'''Gaia''' in modern usage is the English word defined as a [[hypothesis]] that living and nonliving components of earth function as a single system. The term was chosen because the Greek goddess Gaia is the living earth. {{main|Gaia hypothesis}} | '''Gaia''' in modern usage is the English word defined as a [[hypothesis]] that living and nonliving components of earth function as a single system. The term was chosen because the Greek goddess Gaia is the living earth. {{main|Gaia hypothesis}} |