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Carbon Cycle

All articles tagged with #carbon cycle

Sturtian Snowball Wasn’t One Long Freeze—It Repeatedly Thawed and Refroze
science12 days ago

Sturtian Snowball Wasn’t One Long Freeze—It Repeatedly Thawed and Refroze

Harvard researchers simulate the Sturtian glaciation (about 717–660 million years ago) as a cycle of glaciation and thaw driven by carbon-cycle feedbacks: volcanic CO₂ input and basalt weathering lowered CO₂ to trigger ice cover, while ongoing volcanism and reduced weathering during ice cover allowed CO₂ to build and melt, repeating for ~56 million years—reconciling the geological record and the survival of early aerobic life, with implications for exoplanet climates.

via Indian Defence Review|
#carbon-cycle#science#snowball-earth
Desert Exoplanets in the Habitable Zone May Not Harbor Life
science28 days ago

Desert Exoplanets in the Habitable Zone May Not Harbor Life

A University of Washington study finds that an Earth-sized planet needs a substantial surface water inventory—about 20–50% of Earth’s ocean volume—to maintain long-term habitability. On very dry worlds, the carbon cycle can break down, allowing CO2 to build up and heat the planet, potentially rendering it uninhabitable despite being in the habitable zone. Venus serves as a nearby analog, illustrating how small water differences can dramatically impact climate. The work suggests many desert-like exoplanets thought promising for life may actually be poor candidates and informs future observations and Venus missions.

via SciTechDaily|
#arid-planets#carbon-cycle#exoplanets
Earth’s Plate Dance Could Be a Major Climate Driver
science3 months ago

Earth’s Plate Dance Could Be a Major Climate Driver

A new study using computer models shows that Earth's plate tectonics—especially mid-ocean ridges and continental rifts—play a larger role in shaping global climate than previously thought by guiding the deep carbon cycle: carbon stored in seafloor sediments is buried and later released via subduction, driving greenhouse and icehouse periods over the last 540 million years and challenging the view that volcanic arcs are the primary CO2 source, with implications for future climate models.

via Space|
#carbon-cycle#climate-change#deep-carbon-cycle
A Decade of Seafloor Silence: Deoxygenation Disrupts Deep-Sea Recycling
science3 months ago

A Decade of Seafloor Silence: Deoxygenation Disrupts Deep-Sea Recycling

Scientists using the NEPTUNE observatory monitored Barkley Canyon for nearly 10 years and found an unexpected absence of decay activity around whale bones and wood, lacking typical scavengers and bone-eating organisms. The results suggest ocean deoxygenation and expanding oxygen minimum zones are suppressing the deep-sea recyclers (Osedax, Xylophaga), potentially slowing organic decomposition and nutrient cycling with ripple effects on the broader food web.

via Indian Defence Review|
#carbon-cycle#deep-sea#deoxygenation
Ocean Calcium Decline Helped Cool Earth After the Dinosaurs
science4 months ago

Ocean Calcium Decline Helped Cool Earth After the Dinosaurs

A new international study links a long-term drop in ocean calcium since the dinosaurs’ extinction to changes in marine carbon storage. Lower calcium altered how shells and skeletons form and bury carbon, effectively pulling CO2 from the atmosphere and cooling the planet by up to about 15–20°C over millions of years, with seafloor spreading slowing as a key driver of the reduced calcium input to seawater.

via The Daily Galaxy|
#calcium#carbon-cycle#cenozoic-era
Shifting Plates Drive Climate Through Deep Carbon Recycling
science4 months ago

Shifting Plates Drive Climate Through Deep Carbon Recycling

New computer-model research shows Earth’s plate movements—especially mid-ocean ridges and continental rifts—have been a major driver of long-term carbon cycling. Carbon stored in seafloor rocks is released or sequestered as plates move and subduct, helping to trigger greenhouse or icehouse climates over the last 540 million years. Historically, volcanic arcs were thought to dominate carbon release, but the study finds that divergent plate boundaries played a larger role, with arc emissions rising mainly in the last ~120 million years due to the evolution of planktic calcifiers.

via ScienceAlert|
#carbon-cycle#climate-history#deep-ocean
Tectonic shifts steer Earth's climate more than previously thought
science4 months ago

Tectonic shifts steer Earth's climate more than previously thought

New computer-based reconstructions of 540 million years show that the movement of Earth’s plates—especially mid-ocean ridges and continental rifts that drive carbon into and out of the oceans, and the subsequent subduction of carbon-rich sediments—have played a bigger role in driving greenhouse and icehouse climates than volcanic arcs alone. The deep-sea carbon cycle acts as a key regulator of atmospheric CO2, influencing past and future climate and informing climate models that consider tectonic processes alongside human emissions.

via The Conversation|
#carbon-cycle#climate#deep-carbon-cycle
Coral Reefs: Key Players in Earth's Climate and Carbon Cycle for 250 Million Years
science5 months ago

Coral Reefs: Key Players in Earth's Climate and Carbon Cycle for 250 Million Years

Coral reefs have played a crucial role in regulating Earth's climate for over 250 million years by influencing ocean alkalinity and carbon absorption, with their rise and fall affecting climate recovery times and marine evolution; current reef decline due to human activity may impact this natural climate regulation, but recovery would take thousands to hundreds of thousands of years.

via The Conversation|
#carbon-cycle#climate-regulation#coral-reefs
Potential Climate Feedbacks That Could Trigger a New Ice Age
science6 months ago

Potential Climate Feedbacks That Could Trigger a New Ice Age

A new study uncovers a feedback mechanism in Earth's carbon cycle that could cause global warming to overshoot and trigger an ice age, suggesting Earth's climate system can overreact and potentially plunge the planet into deep freeze, especially under past conditions of low atmospheric oxygen. However, current higher oxygen levels may dampen this effect, but the risk remains if warming continues. The findings highlight the importance of limiting ongoing climate change.

via SciTechDaily|
#carbon-cycle#climate-change#feedback-loop
Arctic Ocean Methane Release Accelerated Global Warming
science7 months ago

Arctic Ocean Methane Release Accelerated Global Warming

Scientists have discovered that the Arctic Ocean was a major source of greenhouse gases during a past rapid warming event 56 million years ago, involving a switch from methane-consuming microbes that produce bicarbonate to those that produce CO2, potentially contributing to ocean acidification and warming. This historical methane cycle shift could recur today as Arctic warming and oxygen levels change, possibly accelerating climate change.

via Live Science|
#arctic-ocean#carbon-cycle#climate-change
Arctic Ocean Methane Release Accelerated Global Warming
science7 months ago

Arctic Ocean Methane Release Accelerated Global Warming

Researchers have found that during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum 56 million years ago, a switch in methane-consuming microbes in the Arctic Ocean led to increased methane release, which contributed to rapid global warming. This historical event provides insights into how similar microbial shifts today could accelerate climate change as Arctic conditions warm and oxygen levels decrease.

via Yahoo|
#arctic-ocean#carbon-cycle#climate-change
Earth's Carbon Cycle May Trigger an Ice Age Amid Global Warming
science7 months ago

Earth's Carbon Cycle May Trigger an Ice Age Amid Global Warming

New research suggests that Earth's climate regulation involves complex ocean feedback loops that could overcorrect global warming, potentially triggering an ice age in the distant future, although current human-induced warming is unlikely to cause such a rapid cooling. The study highlights the importance of understanding Earth's natural climate mechanisms and emphasizes the need to limit ongoing warming.

via SciTechDaily|
#carbon-cycle#climate-change#earths-climate