Researchers believe that the evolution of both humans and their technology could add a new level of "self-awareness" to Earth's self-regulation, which is at the heart of the original Gaia theory. Such self-aware self-regulation relies on the ability to constantly monitor and model the state of the planet and our effects upon it.
The original Gaia theory, developed in the late 1960's by James Lovelock states that living organisms and their inorganic surroundings evolved together as a single, self-regulating system that has kept the planet habitable for life despite threats such as a brightening Sun, volcanoes and meteorite strikes.
Now, Professor Tim Lenton from the University of Exeter and eminent French sociologist of science Professor Bruno Latour are now arguing that humans have the potential to 'upgrade' this terrestrial functional structure to create "Gaia 2.0."