Lovelock’s legacy to the Goddess of the Earth stemmed from West Cork

Scientist and inventor, James Lovelock, who died this week, was instrumental in discovering the damage CFCs were doing to Earth's atmosphere

James Lovelock with his daughter, Christine, in 1969 collecting air samples in Adrigole, on the Beara Peninsula, Co Cork. Picture: Irish Examiner Archive

James Lovelock was my scientific hero. He was an inventor, one of Ireland’s earliest air pollution investigators, and also a climate change prophet. 

However it’s likely you had never heard his name before he died this week, at the grand old age of 103.