Ruddiman, William F. 2007.

Earth’s Climate: Past

and Future. 2ed. New York, USA: W.H. Freeman.
CHAPTER 3
CO2 and Long-Term
Climate
Why is Earth habitable? The answer to this question at first seems obvious:
Earth is just the right distance from the Sun for solar heating to keep it
comfortable for life. With a mean temperature of 15°C (59°F) and a relatively
small range of geographic variation around that average, life can flourish almost
everywhere on this planet.
But this answer proves insufficient when we ask why Earth has remained
habitable for most of the 4.55 Byr of its existence. Over that immense interval
of time, our Sun has slowly increased in strength by 25% to 30%, a trend that
should have produced a very large climatic warming. Yet somehow Earth’s
climate has varied only within relatively narrow limits. Our planet’s continuing
habitability seems to require some kind of natural thermostat that allows its
climate to warm up but not overheat during greenhouse eras (times when no
ice sheets are present) and to cool off but not freeze solid during icehouse
eras (times like today when ice sheets are present). This chapter describes the
search for Earth’s thermostat.
44 P A R T I I • Tectonic-Scale Climate Change

Greenhouse Worlds
The first clue that a factor other than distance to the Sun
is involved in Earth’s habitability comes from comparing
it to Venus, another “terrestrial” planet with a similar Reflected back to space
Incoming 515 W/m2
overall chemical composition (Figure 3-1). Venus is a solar radiation
very hot planet with a mean surface temperature of 645 W/m2
460°C, and it lies 72% as far from the Sun as Earth does. C greenhous
285 ˚ e
The average amount of solar radiation sent to each 60 ˚ at sur face ef fe
4 ct
planet varies inversely with the square of its distance d
be

r
from the Sun (1/d 2). Based on this relationship, Venus

so
ab
receives almost twice (1.93 times) as much solar radia-

96
m2

%C 2
tion as Earth does:

/
130 W

O
(1)2 = ––––––
Earth –––––– 1 = 1.93
Venus (0.72)2 0.518
At first, this calculation might seem to confirm that cli-
mate depends entirely on distance from the Sun: because
Venus is closer to the Sun, its surface is hotter. In fact,
however, this is not the real answer, because most of the
Sun’s radiation never arrives at the surface. The upper
atmosphere of Venus is shrouded in a thick cover of sulfu-
ric acid clouds that reflect 80% of the incoming radiation A Venus
and allow only 20% to reach the surface of the planet. In
contrast, clouds on Earth reflect just 26% of the incom-
ing radiation, allowing the other 74% to reach its surface.
Reflected back to space
This large difference in average albedo (the per- 100 W/m2
centage of incoming radiation reflected back to space) Incoming
solar radiation C greenhouse e
between the atmospheres of the two planets almost 342 W/m2 33˚ 5˚ at sur face f fect
1
exactly reverses the relative amounts of solar energy that
actually reach their surfaces. Even though Venus receives
ed

.0
almost twice as much incoming solar energy at the top of
rb

2%
bso

its atmosphere, its higher albedo reduces the amount that

CO 2
242 W/m 2 a

reaches its surface to just over half that received on Earth:

0.20 = 0.52
1.93 × ––––
0.74
With less incoming solar radiation, how can Venus be so
much hotter? The answer is that Venus has an atmos-
phere 90 times as dense as that of Earth, and 96% of its
atmosphere is composed of carbon dioxide (CO2), a
greenhouse gas that is very effective in trapping radiation.
Some sunlight does penetrate the thick atmosphere and B Earth
heat the surface, which causes Venus to emit radiation,
just as Earth does. This kind of back radiation from its FIGURE 3-1 Why is Venus hot? (A) Venus receives almost
heated surface, called longwave radiation, is analogous twice as much solar radiation as (B) Earth, but its dense cloud
to the heat emitted by a radiator. But most of the long- cover permits less radiation to penetrate to its surface. Yet
wave back radiation never leaves the atmosphere of Venus Venus is much hotter than Earth because its CO2-enriched
because the CO2 gas traps it and retains it as internal heat. atmosphere creates a much stronger greenhouse effect that
In contrast, much less of the energy radiated back from traps much more heat. (NASA photos.)
Earth’s surface is trapped by water vapor, CO2, and other
greenhouse gases (companion Web site, pp. 2–3).
Because Venus and Earth both formed as rocky plan-
In summary, the main reason Venus is so hot com- ets in the inner part of our solar system, they contain
pared to Earth is not its closer proximity to the Sun nearly equal amounts of carbon. Yet the two planets store
but its far greater concentrations of heat-trapping their carbon in very different reservoirs. Most of Earth’s
greenhouse gases. carbon is tied up in its rocks, some as coal, oil, and
 C H A P T E R 3 • CO2 and Long-Term Climate 45

natural gas, while relatively little resides in the atmos- 0

No
phere. Combined with water vapor and other natural gases
greenhouse gases, the net greenhouse heating of Earth’s 1
atmosphere is relatively small—about 33°C (although
that difference keeps Earth from freezing solid). In com- 2

Byr ago
plete contrast, almost all the carbon on Venus resides in
its atmosphere as CO2 and produces an enormous net 3
greenhouse warming (285°C) without any significant
contribution from water vapor. 4 With
This comparison shows how vital greenhouse gases greenhouse
can be to the climate of planets. It also highlights the gases
fact that Earth’s comfortably small greenhouse effect is 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 –50 –25 0 25
an important factor in its habitability. Solar luminosity Temperature (°C)
relative to present value

Faint Young Sun Paradox FIGURE 3-2 Faint young Sun paradox Astrophysical
models of the Sun’s evolution indicate that it was 25% to 30%
By studying the evolution of stars in the universe, weaker early in Earth’s history (left). Climate models show
astronomers have recreated the history of our own Sun that this situation would have produced a completely frozen
over the 4.55 Byr existence of our solar system. Through- Earth for more than half its early history if the atmosphere had
out this interval, the Sun’s interior has been the site of an had the same composition it does today (right). (Adapted
ongoing nuclear reaction that fuses nuclei of hydrogen from D. Merritts et al., Environmental Geology, ©1997 by W. H.
(H) together to form helium (He). Models developed by Freeman and Company.)
astronomers indicate that this process has caused our Sun
to expand and gradually become brighter. These models
indicate that the earliest Sun shone 25% to 30% more the end of this chapter, a debate is currently under way
faintly than today, and that its luminosity, or brightness, as to how close Earth’s climate came to a nearly frozen
then slowly increased to its current strength. condition during intervals between 850 and 550 Myr
This insight from the field of astronomy creates ago, but for most of Earth’s history the sedimentary evi-
an intriguing problem for climate scientists. A relatively dence leaves no doubt that most of the water on Earth
small decrease in our Sun’s present strength would has remained unfrozen.
cause all the water on Earth to freeze, despite the warm- This conclusion is supported by the continued pres-
ing effect from greenhouse gases. If all our oceans and ence of life on Earth. Primitive life-forms date back
lakes were to freeze, their bright snow and ice surfaces to at least 3.5 Byr ago, and their presence on Earth is
would reflect more solar radiation and they would be incompatible with a completely frozen planet at that
difficult to melt. One-dimensional numerical climate time. The succession of ever more complex life-forms
models that simulate the mean climate of the entire that have continuously occupied Earth ever since add
planet (Chapter 2) suggest that the combination of a further proof against extreme cold (or heat).
weak Sun and greenhouse gas levels at their present val- So we are confronted with a mystery: With so weak
ues would have kept Earth completely frozen for the a Sun, why wasn’t Earth frozen for the first two-thirds
first 3 billion years of its existence (Figure 3-2). of its history? This mystery has been named the faint
Yet evidence left in Earth’s sedimentary deposits young Sun paradox.
shows that Earth was not frozen for its first 3 billion Part of the answer to the faint young Sun paradox is
years. Although the first half-billion years of Earth’s exis- obvious: something kept the early Earth warm enough
tence left no record, evidence of Earth’s climatic history to offset the Sun’s weakness, but this easy answer only
gradually becomes more complete after that time and raises a more difficult problem. Whatever the process
toward the present. Most sedimentary rocks (Chapter 2) was that warmed the younger Earth, it must no longer
are made up of particles that were eroded from other be doing so today, or at least not as actively as it once
rocks, reworked by running water, and transported to a did. If this same warming process had continued work-
site of deposition. The prevalence of water-deposited ing at full strength right through the entire 4.55 Byr
sedimentary rocks throughout Earth’s history is direct of Earth’s history, it would have combined with the
evidence that Earth was not completely frozen. steadily increasing warmth from the strengthening Sun
The first evidence of ice-deposited sediments occurs (see Figure 3-2) to overheat Earth and make it uninhab-
in rocks dated to about 2.3 Byr ago, but these deposits itable. Yet that has not happened: somehow Earth has
were probably the result of glaciations in polar regions stayed within a moderate temperature range through-
similar to those on Earth today, and they are not evi- out the entire interval when the Sun’s brightness was
dence of a completely frozen planet. As summarized at increasing.
46 P A R T I I • Tectonic-Scale Climate Change

The solution to the faint young Sun paradox appears quently decreased in abundance, that would have pro-
to require a process that works the same way a thermo- vided a thermostat-like control.
stat works in a house. When outside temperatures fall in Our earlier comparison of Earth and Venus lends
winter, the thermostat detects the cooling and turns on credibility to this explanation. Earth’s carbon is mainly
a heat source that keeps the house warm. When temper- stored in its rocks, while carbon on Venus is mostly in
atures become too hot outside in summer, the thermo- its atmosphere. If carbon can reside in different reser-
stat activates a cooling source that keeps the house cool. voirs on different planets, why couldn’t it move among
The thermostat moderates extreme swings in tempera- reservoirs during the history of a single planet? More
ture. Such a thermostat must have been at work through specifically, could the early Earth have held more car-
Earth’s history, warming its climate very early on when it bon in its atmosphere (like Venus) and then transferred
would otherwise have frozen under a weak Sun and later it to its rocks later in its history?
on cutting back on the heat provided from the strength-
ening Sun. Carbon Exchanges between Rocks and
One possibility is that greenhouse gases have been
part of the mechanism that acts as Earth’s thermostat.
the Atmosphere
Our modern concentrations of greenhouse gases do not To understand how carbon may have shifted among
provide enough warming to have counteracted the Earth’s reservoirs, we need to examine the present car-
effects of a weak early Sun, but if these gases had been bon cycle (Figure 3-3A). Small amounts of carbon exist
more abundant earlier in Earth’s history and subse- in the atmosphere, in the surface ocean, and in vegeta-

Vegetation: 610
Atmosphere: 600
(preindustrial)

Soils: 1560 Ocean mixed layer: 1000

Deep ocean: 38,000

Sediments and rocks:
66,000,000

A Major carbon reservoirs (gigatons)

FIGURE 3-3 Carbon exchanges
100 Atmosphere with Earth’s rocks (A) The largest
50 reservoir of carbon on Earth lies in its
50
Vegetation rocks, not in its atmosphere,
50 74.6 vegetation, or ocean. (B) All of
0.6 0.8 74 Earth’s reservoirs exchange carbon.
Over intervals of millions of years,
Soil Ocean mixed layer
slow exchanges among the rock and
37 surface reservoirs can cause large
changes in atmospheric CO2 levels.
0.2 (Adapted from J. Horel and J. Geisler,
37 Global Environmental Change [New York:
Wiley, 1997] and from National
Deep ocean Research Council Board on
Sediments and rocks Atmospheric Sciences and Climate,
0.2
Changing Climate, Report of the
Carbon Dioxide Assessment
Committee [Washington, D.C.:
B Carbon exchange rates (gigatons/year) National Academy Press, 1993].)
 C H A P T E R 3 • CO2 and Long-Term Climate 47

tion, along with a slightly larger reservoir in soils, a The present rate of natural carbon input to the
much larger reservoir in the deep ocean, and an atmosphere from the rock reservoir is estimated at
immensely larger reservoir in rocks and sediments. approximately 0.15 gigatons of carbon per year (see
Carbon storage in these reservoirs is measured in Figure 3-3B). This value is uncertain by a factor of at
billions of tons (gigatons). least 2, because volcanic explosions are irregular in time
The rates of carbon exchange among these reser- and because the amount of CO2 released varies with
voirs vary widely (Figure 3-3B). In general, an inverse each eruption. As we will see later, this natural rate of
relationship exists between the size of a reservoir and carbon input is roughly balanced by a similar rate of
the rate at which it exchanges carbon. The smaller natural removal. This balance between natural input
reservoirs (atmosphere, surface ocean, and vegetation) and removal rates helped to keep the size of the “nat-
all exchange carbon relatively quickly, while the huge ural” (preindustrial) atmospheric carbon reservoir at
rock reservoir gains and loses carbon much more ~600 gigatons.
slowly. As a result of the combined effects of reservoir But how likely is it that this balance could have
size and exchange rate, carbon can cycle through the persisted over immensely long intervals of geologic
smaller reservoirs at the surface within a few years but time? We can evaluate this question by a simple thought
moves much more slowly through the larger and deeper experiment. Using the reservoir concept introduced in
reservoirs. Chapter 2, we can calculate how long it would take for
Because all these reservoirs exchange carbon with the atmospheric CO2 level to fall to zero if all volcanic
the atmosphere, each has the potential to alter atmos- release of carbon from Earth’s interior to the atmosphere
pheric CO2 concentrations and affect Earth’s climate. abruptly ceased but carbon continued to be removed
The relative importance of each carbon reservoir in from the atmosphere at the same rate as before.
Earth’s climate history varies according to the time scale The answer, derived by dividing the preindustrial
under consideration. In this chapter, we are concerned atmospheric carbon reservoir of 600 gigatons by an
with very gradual climate changes over tens of millions annual rate of carbon removal of 0.15 gigaton, is 4000
of years. Over these very long (tectonic) time scales, the years. This number, although obviously well beyond the
effects of the slow carbon exchanges between the rocks length of a human lifetime, is remarkably brief in the
and the surface reservoirs produce large changes in the context of the several billion years of Earth’s existence.
amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. It tells us that changes in volcanic input persisting over
that relatively “small” span of time could have a drastic
effect on the CO2 content of our atmosphere.
3-1 Volcanic Input of Carbon from Rocks to the
In actuality, the atmosphere is not really this vulner-
Atmosphere able because rapid exchanges of carbon occur continu-
Carbon cycles constantly between Earth’s interior and ously between the atmosphere and several other carbon
its surface. It moves from the deep rock reservoir to the reservoirs. These rapid exchanges have the effect of
surface mainly as CO2 gas produced during volcanic slowing and reducing the impact of the loss of carbon
eruptions and in the activity of hot springs (Figure 3-4). from Earth’s interior.

CO2
CO2

Volcano

Hot spring
FIGURE 3-4 Input of CO2 from
volcanoes CO2 enters Earth’s
atmosphere from deep in its interior
through release of gases in volcanoes
and at hot springs such as those
Melting found today at Yellowstone National
Park in Wyoming.
48 P A R T I I • Tectonic-Scale Climate Change

In our hypothetical example of a sudden cessation of function as the thermostat? The answer is no. The basic
volcanic CO2 input to the atmosphere, the actual sce- operating principle of a thermostat is that it first reacts
nario might develop more like this: As CO2 levels in the to external changes and then acts to moderate their
atmosphere begin to fall, the other surface reservoirs effects: a thermostat detects the chill of a cold night and
(vegetation, surface ocean, soils) would begin to surren- sends a signal that turns on the heat.
der some of their carbon to the atmosphere, slowing its Volcanic processes are not thought to operate in this
rate of loss. For the fast-reacting reservoirs, changes in way. The volcanic activity that has occurred on Earth
one are felt by the others almost immediately because of throughout its history has been driven mainly by heat
the rapid exchange rates. sources located deep in its interior and generally far
The combined size of all the near-surface reser- removed from contact with the climate system. Climat-
voirs (atmosphere, vegetation, soil, and surface ocean) ically driven changes in temperature penetrate only
is 3700 gigatons, more than six times larger than the the outermost few meters or tens of meters of the land
atmospheric reservoir alone. It would take roughly (or seafloor). As a result, climate changes confined to
24,700 years after volcanism ceased for these reservoirs Earth’s surface have no physical way to alter deep-
to lose all their carbon (3700 gigatons divided by seated processes in Earth’s interior. Without such a link,
0.15 gigaton/yr). no thermostat-like changes in volcanic activity and CO2
In addition, over time spans of centuries, the large delivery to the surface can occur.
deep-ocean carbon reservoir would begin to play a Earth’s thermostat lies elsewhere. It must be found
role. If the surface reservoirs were all losing significant in a process that responds directly to the climate condi-
amounts of carbon, the deep ocean would feed some of tions at Earth’s surface.
its carbon to the surface ocean, from which it would be
redistributed to the atmosphere and the vegetation. If
3-2 Removal of CO2 from the Atmosphere by
we take the large deep-ocean reservoir into account, the
Chemical Weathering
total size of these reservoirs amounts to 41,700 gigatons.
It would take 278,000 years for a total shutdown of vol- To avoid a long-term buildup of CO2 levels, CO2 input
canic carbon input to deplete these combined reservoirs to the atmosphere by volcanoes must be countered by
completely (41,700 gigatons divided by 0.15 gigaton/yr). CO2 removal. The major long-term process of CO2
At this point it might seem that we have shown that removal is tied to chemical weathering of continental
Earth’s surface reservoirs, including the atmosphere, are rocks (Chapter 2). Two major types of chemical weath-
actually not particularly vulnerable to changes in the ering occur on continents: hydrolysis and dissolution.
amount of carbon coming out of (or going into) its Hydrolysis Hydrolysis is the main mechanism for
rocks, but this conclusion would be incorrect. Even a removing CO2 from the atmosphere. The three key
time span as long as 278,000 years represents less than ingredients in the process of hydrolysis are the minerals
one–ten thousandth of Earth’s 4.55-Byr age. Because that make up typical continental rocks, water derived
Earth is so old, plenty of time is still available for the from rain, and CO2 derived from the atmosphere
slow carbon exchanges with Earth’s rock reservoirs to (Figure 3-5).
alter the amount of carbon in the surface reservoirs by Most of the continental crust consists of rocks, such
large amounts. as granite, made of silicate minerals like quartz and
With Earth’s great antiquity taken into account, it feldspar. Silicate minerals typically are made up of posi-
is still amazing that over this immense span of time tively charged cations (Na+1, K+1, Fe+2, Mg+2, Al+3, and
Earth’s volcanoes have somehow managed to keep deliv- Ca+2) that are chemically bonded to negatively charged
ering just enough carbon from Earth’s interior to keep SiO4 (silicate) structures. These silicate minerals are
the atmosphere from running out of CO2 but not so slowly attacked by groundwater containing carbonic
much as to overheat the planet. This achievement acid (H2CO3) formed by combining atmospheric CO2
requires a very delicate balance. Even more amazing is with rainwater.
the fact that this balancing act had to be maintained as Part of the weathered rock is chemically converted
the faint young Sun was slowly increasing in strength. A to clay minerals (compounds of Si, Al, O, and H) and
simple analogy for this long-term balancing act is a left as soils. Chemical weathering also produces several
tightrope walker who has to stay balanced on a narrow types of dissolved ions and ion complexes, including
wire that slopes uphill over a very long distance. HCO3–1, CO3–2, H2SiO4, and H+1. These ions are car-
We noted earlier that this balancing act requires ried by rivers to the ocean, and some are incorporated
some kind of natural thermostat to moderate Earth’s in the shells of planktic organisms (see Figure 3-5).
temperature. Could the rate of volcanic input of CO2 Dozens of chemical equations describe the process
from Earth’s interior have varied in such a way as to of chemical weathering—in fact, there is one equation
 C H A P T E R 3 • CO2 and Long-Term Climate 49

FIGURE 3-5 Chemical weathering

removes atmospheric CO2 Chemical
CO2 weathering of silica-rich rocks on the
continents removes CO2 from the
atmosphere, and part of the carbon is
H 2O later stored in the shells of marine
Ca+2
Si+4 HCO3– plankton and buried in ocean
Soil H CO
2 3 sediments.
SiO2 CaCO3
Silicate rock
(CaSiO3)

CaSiO3 + H2CO3 Ca+2 Si+4 SiO2 + CaCO3

HCO3–
Silicate Carbonic acid Shells of
Ions dissolved
bedrock in soils ocean plankton
in river water
Weathering Transport Deposition
on land in rivers in ocean

for each of the many types of silicate minerals found on H2O + CO2
continents. The part of these processes that is most Rain From atmosphere

→
important to the carbon system can be represented by →
these reactions: CaCO3 + H2CO3 → CaCO3 + H2O + CO2
Limestone In soils Shells of Returned to
H2O + CO2 rock organisms atmosphere
Rain From atmosphere
→
→

CaSiO3 + H2CO3 → CaCO3 + SiO2 + H2O Dissolution of limestone proceeds at much faster
Silicate rock Carbonic acid Shells of organisms rates than hydrolysis of silicates. Similar to hydrolysis,
(continents) (soil) dissolution extracts CO2 from the atmosphere to attack
rock. But unlike the weathering of silicate rocks, lime-
For simplicity, the many kinds of continental rocks stone weathering causes no net removal of atmospheric
and minerals are represented here by one silicate min- CO2. Within the relatively short interval of time it takes
eral, CaSiO3 (wollastonite). Carbon dioxide (CO2) is for the dissolved HCO3–1 and CO3–2 ions to reach the
removed from the atmosphere, incorporated in ground- sea and become incorporated in the shells of organisms,
water to form carbonic acid in soils, used in the chemi- all the CO2 is returned to the atmosphere.
cal weathering reaction, and deposited in the CaCO3 A CO2 Balance In summary, slow weathering of
shells of marine organisms. This reaction is a shorthand granite and other silicate rocks on the continents by
summary of the way chemical weathering removes CO2 hydrolysis is the main way that CO2 is pulled out of the
from the atmosphere and buries it in ocean sediments. atmosphere over very long time scales. In the context of
This process acts slowly but persistently over long Earth’s delicate long-term balancing act, the rate of
intervals of geologic time and accounts for 80% of the removal of carbon by chemical weathering must have
0.15 gigatons of carbon buried each year in ocean very nearly balanced the rate of carbon input from vol-
sediments. canoes. If these rates had not been very nearly equal, the
Dissolution It is important to distinguish weather- system would have been thrown off balance and caused
ing of silicates by hydrolysis from dissolution, the sec- drastic changes in CO2 levels and in climate.
ond type of weathering. Dissolution is the familiar The existence of this delicate balance does not imply
process that eats away at limestone bedrock and in some that either the (volcanic) CO2 input rate or the (weath-
areas forms limestone caves. Again, rainwater and CO2 ering) CO2 removal rate remained absolutely constant
combine in soils to form carbonic acid (H2CO3) and through time. Yet the fact of Earth’s long-term habit-
attack limestone bedrock, and the dissolved ions created ability requires that the rates of input and output must
by dissolution again flow to the ocean in rivers. Dissolu- have always remained fairly closely balanced even as
tion can also be summarized by these simple reactions: one or both processes changed.
50 P A R T I I • Tectonic-Scale Climate Change

How has this near-perfect balance been possible?

As we noted earlier, a thermostat can provide such a
20

Temperature (°C)
balance. In our search for Earth’s thermostat within its
carbon system, we have ruled out volcanic input of
CO2. The only other possibility left is chemical weath-
10
ering. If the rate of chemical weathering is sensitive to
climate, it may be able to act as Earth’s thermostat.
0
Climatic Factors That Control Chemical
Weathering A 90°N 60° 30° 0° 30° 60° 90°S
Latitude
Decades of laboratory experiments and many field stud- 2000
ies have shown that rates of chemical weathering are

Precipitation (mm/yr)
influenced by three environmental factors: tempera-
ture, precipitation, and vegetation. These factors all act
in a mutually reinforcing way to affect the intensity of 1000
chemical weathering.
Laboratory experiments have shown that higher
temperatures cause more rapid weathering of individual
silicate minerals. This trend is consistent with many 0
temperature-dependent chemical reactions in water B 90°N 60° 30° 0° 30° 60° 90°S
or other aqueous solutions. Weathering rates roughly Latitude
double for each 10°C increase in temperature. 3000
Unfortunately, it is difficult to transfer these labora-
tory results to studies of the real Earth. So far, experi-
Production (g /m2/yr)

ments have examined only a few of the many silicate

2000
minerals that are common enough in Earth’s crust to be
important contributors to the overall rate of silicate
weathering on a global scale. Natural chemical weather-
ing rates are also difficult to determine in field studies 1000
because of the complicating effects from rapid carbonate
dissolution. Because dissolution occurs many times
faster than hydrolysis, the total amount of ions flowing 0
down rivers can easily be dominated by ions derived C –10 0 10 20 30
from limestone dissolution, which does not control CO2 Temperature (°C)
levels in Earth’s atmosphere, rather than from hydrolysis FIGURE 3-6 Climate controls on chemical weathering
of silicates, which does control long-term CO2 levels. (A) Temperature and (B) precipitation both show a general
Another problem with studying the real world is that trend from high values in warm (low) latitudes to low values in
humans have disturbed the natural chemistry of most of cold (high) latitudes. (C) The total amount of vegetation
Earth’s rivers by agricultural and industrial activities. produced per year increases with temperature, as well as with
Still, we can apply the laboratory rule of thumb that precipitation. (A and B: Adapted from R. G. Barry and R. J.
says that silicate weathering rates double for each 10°C Chorley, Atmosphere, Weather, and Climate, 4th ed. [New York:
increase in temperature across the roughly 30°C range Methuen, 1982]. C: adapted from R. L. Smith and T. M.
of mean annual temperatures found on Earth’s surface Smith, Elements of Ecology [Menlo Park, CA: Addison Wesley
(Figure 3-6A). Based on this relationship, rates of sili- Longman, 1998].)
cate weathering should increase by a factor of at least 8
(2 × 2 × 2) from the cold polar regions to the hot equa-
torial latitudes. separate contributions to chemical weathering. The
The second major control on weathering is precipi- heaviest rainfall on Earth occurs in the tropics because
tation (Figure 3-6B). Increased rainfall raises the level warm tropical air holds more moisture than cooler high-
of groundwater held in soils, and the water combines latitude air. Polar regions have much less precipitation
with CO2 to form carbonic acid and enhance the weath- because the atmosphere holds so little water.
ering process. This relationship breaks down to some extent at
Temperature and precipitation are closely linked in regional scales. For example, lower precipitation in some
Earth’s climate system, and it is difficult to measure their subtropical regions greatly reduces chemical weathering,
 C H A P T E R 3 • CO2 and Long-Term Climate 51

even though the relatively warm temperatures in those typically cold, dry, and more sparsely vegetated, with
areas would otherwise favor it. Despite these com- more extensive snow and ice. An initial climate change
plications, temperature and precipitation generally act toward a colder, drier, less vegetated Earth should
together. A warmer Earth is likely to be a wetter Earth, reduce chemical weathering and slow the rate of
and both factors tend to act together to intensify chemi- removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. Slower CO2
cal weathering. removal should reduce the effect of the initial push
Vegetation also enhances chemical weathering. Plants toward climate cooling.
extract CO2 from the atmosphere through the process The action of these negative feedbacks does not
of photosynthesis and deliver it to soils, where it com- mean that no climate change occurs at all. Any process
bines with groundwater to form carbonic acid. Although that initially acts to warm Earth succeeds in doing so,
H2CO3 is a weak acid, it enhances the rate of chemical but by an amount smaller than would have been the
breakdown of minerals. Scientists estimate that the pres- case without the negative feedback. Conversely, any
ence of vegetation on land can increase the rate of chemi- process that initially acts to cool Earth succeeds in
cal weathering by a factor of 2 to 10 over the rates typical doing so, but also to a reduced degree. The existence of
of land that lacks vegetation. a climate-dependent negative feedback due to chemical
Vegetation is closely linked to precipitation and weathering was proposed in 1981 by the geochemist
temperature (companion Web site, pp. 47–50). Dense
rain forests are found in regions with year-round rain-
fall, open forest or savannas in areas with a short dry
season, grasslands in places with a long dry season, and
deserts in areas with little or no rainfall. Each step in the Warmer
climate
direction of greater rainfall is a step toward more vege-
tation and more total carbon biomass stored in vegeta- Initial Reduction of
tion and soils. change initial warming
In addition, the rate of production of carbon by Increased
photosynthesis across the planet is correlated with tem- temperature,
precipitation,
perature (Figure 3-6C). Cold, ice-covered regions pro- vegetation
duce little plant matter, and seasonally or permanently
frozen (but ice-free) polar regions produce only sparse Increased
CO2 removal
tundra vegetation. In comparison, production of carbon by weathering
in warmer mid-latitude and tropical regions is much
greater. Increased
chemical
weathering
Is Chemical Weathering Earth’s A
Thermostat?
Colder
Now we have in hand the components of a mechanism climate
that could act as Earth’s thermostat and moderate long-
term climate: the chemical weathering thermostat. Initial Reduction of
The global rate of chemical weathering is analogous to change initial cooling
a thermostat because it reacts to (depends on) the aver- Decreased
temperature,
age state of Earth’s climate and then alters that state by precipitation,
regulating the rate at which CO2 is removed from the vegetation
atmosphere.
Consider what would happen if Earth’s climate Decreased
CO2 removal
began to warm (Figure 3-7A). Any initial climate by weathering
change (for any reason) toward a warmer, moister, more
Decreased
heavily vegetated greenhouse Earth should enhance
chemical
chemical weathering of silicate minerals, but the faster weathering
weathering in such a world should then speed up the
B
rate of removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. The
result should be a negative feedback that removes CO2 FIGURE 3-7 Negative feedback from chemical weathering
and moderates the size of the imposed warming. Chemical weathering acts as a negative climate feedback by
The opposite sequence should happen if Earth’s cli- reducing the intensity of both (A) imposed climate warming
mate began to cool (Figure 3-7B). Icehouse climates are and (B) imposed climate cooling.
52 P A R T I I • Tectonic-Scale Climate Change

James Walker and his colleagues Paul Hays and James Slower rates of weathering would have left more CO2
Kastings. in the atmosphere over much of Earth’s early history, per-
How do we apply this concept to the mystery of the haps 100 to 1000 times as much as today (Figure 3-8A).
faint young Sun paradox? Recall that Earth needed a The warmth produced by this high-CO2 atmosphere
global thermostat that made it warmer early in its his- could have countered most of the cooling caused by the
tory to counter the weakness of the early Sun, but that smaller amount of incoming solar radiation.
later throttled back on the warming as the strengthen- Then, as Earth began to receive more radiation
ing Sun provided greater heat. from the brightening Sun, its surface warmed and the
Earth’s environment very early in its history is rate of chemical weathering gradually increased. Faster
poorly known, but it is widely thought to have included chemical weathering began to draw more CO2 out of
active volcanism that caused large emissions of volatile the atmosphere, and the resulting drop in atmospheric
gases (including CO2) from its interior. Many scientists CO2 levels provided a cooling effect that counteracted
believe that Earth’s surface may even have been entirely the gradual increase in solar warming and kept Earth’s
molten for a few hundred million years after 4.55 Byr temperatures moderate (Figure 3-8B). The centerpiece
ago. In addition, ancient craters preserved on our moon of this explanation is that the slow warming of Earth by
and on other planets indicate that Earth was once under the strengthening Sun would have caused changes in
heavy bombardment by asteroids, meteors, and comets, weathering that moderated changes in climate.
and these collisions may have triggered greater volcan-
ism as well. Radioactive elements deep in Earth’s inte- IN SUMMARY, chemical weathering is an excellent
rior also released heat that could have increased the candidate for Earth’s thermostat.
amount of volcanism. Increased volcanic activity would
have delivered more CO2 to the atmosphere and helped If chemical weathering is Earth’s thermostat, we face
to make Earth hot. As noted earlier, however, it is very still another question: What happened to all that CO2
unlikely that volcanism is the thermostat responsible that once resided in the atmosphere and kept Earth
for maintaining Earth’s moderate climate through all warm? The most likely answer is found by looking at
4.55 Byr of its existence. the size of the carbon reservoirs in Figure 3-3: the car-
Chemical weathering is a more promising explana- bon removed from today’s atmosphere by weathering is
tion. The weakness of the young Sun would have tended buried in ocean sediments that eventually turn into
to make the early Earth cooler than it is today, and the rocks. The same process would also have been at work
rate of CO2 removal from the atmosphere by weather- in the past, and over time it would have caused a slow
ing would have been slower because of the lower tem- but massive transfer of carbon from the atmosphere to
peratures. In addition, early continents are thought to rocks. If this interpretation is correct, most of Earth’s
have covered a smaller area than they do today. The early greenhouse atmosphere lies buried in its rocks
smaller area of the continents would also have favored instead of concentrated in the atmosphere, as on Venus.
slower CO2 removal from the atmosphere by weather- Some scientists have suggested that greater emissions
ing because less rock surface was available to weather. of methane (CH4) and ammonia (NH3) from Earth’s

Weaker solar radiation Stronger solar radiation

FIGURE 3-8 Earth’s thermostat

r greenhou
onge aker greenhouse A plausible explanation of the faint
Str se We
young Sun paradox is that (A) the
weakness of the early Sun was
compensated for by a stronger CO2
greenhouse effect in the
atmosphere. (B) Later, when the
Sun strengthened, increased
chemical weathering deposited the
excess atmospheric greenhouse
carbon in rocks, and the weakened
CO s greenhouse effect kept Earth’s
2 in roc k
CO temperatures moderate. (Adapted
re
2 in at m osp he from W. Broecker and T.-H. Peng,
Greenhouse Puzzles [New York:
A Early Earth B Modern Earth Eldigio Press, 1993].)
 C H A P T E R 3 • CO2 and Long-Term Climate 53

interior warmed the early Earth. In the modern atmos- Initial

phere, both of these gases tend to be broken down in the change Climate
atmosphere within a few years by chemical reactions, warming
which would seem to require large and continual addi- Increased
tions to the early atmosphere to maintain high levels. On warming
the other hand, the early atmosphere was devoid of oxy-
gen, which plays a primary role in removing methane and
ammonia today. These two gases could also have played a
role in warming the early atmosphere.
Increased
atmospheric
3-3 Greenhouse Role of Water Vapor water vapor
What about the role of water vapor in these longer-
term climate changes? Water vapor is by far the most Increased
important greenhouse gas in Earth’s atmosphere today. greenhouse
It accounts for most of the 33°C greenhouse effect that trapping
keeps our planet warm (companion Web site, pp. 2–3). of radiation
Why wouldn’t water vapor have played a major thermo-
stat role in Earth’s past? FIGURE 3-9 Water vapor feedback When climate warms,
The answer to this question is that water vapor and the atmosphere is able to hold more water vapor, which is the
CO2 work in fundamentally different ways in the cli- major greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. The increase in water
mate system. Over tectonic time scales, CO2 acts as a vapor leads to further warming by means of positive feedback.
negative feedback that suppresses the size of changes This feedback works in the same way (but opposite direction)
in climate. In contrast, the effect of water vapor is just during cooling.
the reverse: it acts as a positive feedback that amplifies
changes in climate.
The amount of water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere
varies over a wide range, from as little as 0.2% in very climate, yet we have also seen that the processes
cold dry air to more than 3% in humid tropical air. This involved are not strictly physical. Biological processes
natural link between air temperature and water vapor participate in the carbon cycle. For this reason, some
produces an important positive feedback in the climate scientists infer that life itself, rather than strictly physi-
system called water vapor feedback (Figure 3-9). cal-chemical factors, may be the thermostat that actu-
Assume that climate warms for some reason. Because ally regulates Earth’s climate. (In addition, a substantial
a warmer atmosphere can hold much more water vapor, amount of the carbon that moves through Earth’s reser-
the resulting increase in this greenhouse gas traps more voirs does so in organic form, as part of a separate and
heat. This enhanced greenhouse effect further warms smaller subcycle (Box 3-1).
Earth, amplifying the initial warming through a posi-
tive feedback loop. The same positive feedback process 3-4 Gaia Hypothesis
works in the opposite direction when climate cools: if an The biologists James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis pro-
initial cooling reduces the amount of water vapor held posed in the 1980s that life itself has been responsible
in the atmosphere, an additional cooling will result from for regulating Earth’s climate. They called their idea the
the reduced greenhouse effect. Because water vapor Gaia hypothesis, after the ancient Greek Earth god-
amplifies rather than moderates climatic changes, it can- dess. A crude analogy of how their hypothesis works
not have acted as Earth’s thermostat. The continuing is the way the fur on an animal fluffs out to create an
presence of running water shown by geologic deposits insulated layer and keep the creature warm when the
through Earth’s recorded history indicates that liquid weather turns cold. The animal in effect unconsciously
water has been available to feed water vapor to the regulates its own environment for its own good. The
atmosphere and provide positive feedback to tempera- Gaia hypothesis holds that life regulates climate on
ture changes. Earth for its own good (Figure 3-10).
Supporters of this hypothesis cite features of the
Is Life the Ultimate Control on Earth’s chemical weathering thermostat that directly involve
the action of life-forms: (1) the fact that carbon is the
Thermostat? basis of the CO2 cycle; (2) the action of land plants in
We have seen that chemical weathering provides a plau- photosynthesizing carbon dioxide and transferring it to
sible thermostat-like mechanism to moderate Earth’s the soil as part of the vegetation litter, thereby forming
54 P A R T I I • Tectonic-Scale Climate Change

BOX 3-1 LOOKING DEEPER INTO CLIMATE SCIENCE

Organic Carbon Subcycle

N early 20% of the carbon that cycles among Earth’s

carbon reservoirs today does so in organic form.
Photosynthesis is critical to the organic carbon subcycle,
organic matter that consumes the remaining oxygen and
allows organic debris to escape oxidation. These condi-
tions produce fine-grained, carbon-rich muds that even-
mainly because land plants extract CO2 from the atmos- tually turn into mudstones and then into harder rocks
phere, and also because ocean plankton extract CO2 from called shales.
inorganic carbon dissolved in the surface ocean. Most of The carbon buried in sediments and then rocks repre-
the organic carbon fixed and temporarily stored in land sents a net loss of CO2 from the interactive carbon reser-
vegetation and ocean plankton is recycled and quickly voirs in the ocean, atmosphere, soil, and vegetation. Once
returned to the ocean-atmosphere system by means of buried, organic carbon stays in the rocks until tectonic
oxidation, which uses available oxygen in water or air to processes return it to the surface by slow-acting processes:
convert organic carbon back to inorganic form. (1) weathering (and oxidation) of carbon-bearing rocks
On land, oxidation consumes organic carbon just after at Earth’s surface and (2) thermal breakdown of organic
the seasonal fall of leaves or die-back of green vegetation carbon in rocks deep in Earth’s interior, with release of
and after the death of the woody tissue of trees. In the liberated CO2 through volcanoes.
oceans, oxidation slowly consumes organic debris sinking Because this organic carbon subcycle carries one-
out of the sunlit surface layers where photosynthesis fifth of the carbon moving between Earth’s rocks and its
occurs. surface reservoirs, it has the potential to have substantial
Only a small fraction of the organic carbon formed by effects on the global carbon balance and on atmospheric
these processes is buried in the geologic record. Carbon CO2 over long (tectonic-scale) time intervals. Also, under
from the land and carbon from the oceans contribute conditions that cause the onset of high productivity
roughly equal amounts to this total. Burial of organic car- and carbon burial in the ocean, large amounts of organic
bon is favored in water-saturated environments (marine carbon can be quickly extracted from the atmosphere,
or terrestrial) characterized by (1) low oxygen levels causing rapid reductions of CO2 levels and rapid climatic
that minimize oxidation and (2) rapid production of cooling.

CO2 Ph
o
to

Rapid
synt sis

terrestrial
he

C cycling
Organic carbon subcycle About 20%
of the carbon that shifts between
Earth’s surface reservoirs (air, water,
Burning and vegetation) and its deep rock
Oxidation reservoirs moves in the organic carbon
Slow subcycle. Photosynthesis on land and
C cycling in the surface ocean turns inorganic
Photosynthesis Burial carbon into organic carbon, most of
C burial
g

Erosion
in

which is quickly returned to the

Sin
ll
we

Rapid atmosphere or surface ocean. A small

king
Up

marine fraction of this organic carbon is

C cycling buried in continental and oceanic
CO2
O
xi

Slow release in sediments that slowly turn into rock.

da

C cycling
tio

Burial volcanoes This carbon is eventually returned to

n

the atmosphere as CO2, either by

erosion of continental rocks or by
melting and volcanic emissions.
 C H A P T E R 3 • CO2 and Long-Term Climate 55

0 much more controversial: it goes far beyond Darwin’s

Increase in concept that evolution occurs to enhance the reproduc-
flowering plants
100 tive survival of each species.
Earth’s long history reveals a sequence of life-forms
different from those that exist now (see Figure 3-10).
Myr ago

200
No record of life exists before 3.5 Byr ago, although it is
possible that primitive life-forms did exist and have sim-
300 ply escaped detection because the rock record is so
scarce and poorly preserved. By 3.5 Byr ago, primitive
400
First land plants single-celled marine algae capable of photosynthesis
had developed (Figure 3-11A). Over the next 3 billion
500 First marine years, slightly more complex organisms evolved: by 2.9
organisms Byr ago, moundlike clumps of marine algae called stro-
with shells matolites that lived attached to the seafloor; by 2.5 Byr
More O2 in ago, organisms that contained a cell nucleus; and by 2.1
atmosphere Byr ago, a variety of multicelled algae.
1
(increased Most of the more complex forms of life did not arrive
photosynthesis) until late in Earth’s history. Near 540 Myr ago, hard
shells of many kinds of organisms abruptly appear in the
fossil record. Before that time, the only fossilized records
First known
of life consisted of ghost impressions left imprinted on
2 the surfaces of soft sediment layers. The first primitive
multicelled algae
O2 in atmosphere land plants did not evolve until near 430 Myr ago (Figure
Byr ago

(photosynthesis) 3–11B). These plants acquired the ability to survive

First organisms because of stems and roots that delivered water from the
with cell nuclei ground. The first treelike plants appeared by 400 Myr
3 ago (Figure 3–11C). Trees and grasses are important in
modern chemical weathering because they acidify
groundwater by adding carbon to soils as litter.
First known
single-celled
Critics of the Gaia hypothesis point out that many
algae of the active roles played by organisms in the biosphere
4
today are a relatively recent development in Earth’s his-
tory and that the role of life in the distant past was
? ? ? ? probably negligible. In this view, early life-forms were
too primitive to have had much effect on chemical
weathering, and the delicate climatic balance main-
FIGURE 3-10 Gaia hypothesis Over time, life-forms
gradually developed in complexity and played a progressively
tained through Earth’s history must have been achieved
greater role in chemical weathering and its control of Earth’s primarily by physical-chemical means (the effects of
climate. In the extreme form of the Gaia hypothesis, life temperature and precipitation on weathering rates)
evolved for the purpose of regulating Earth’s climate. rather than by biological intervention.
Critics also note that the very late appearance of
shell-bearing oceanic organisms near 540 Myr ago
means that life had played no obvious role in transfer-
carbonic acid that enhances chemical weathering; and ring the products of chemical weathering on land to the
(3) the role of shell-bearing ocean plankton in extract- seafloor for the preceding 4 billion years. Instead, most
ing CO2 from the ocean and storing it in their CaCO3 CaCO3 in the oceans was presumably deposited in
shells. These modern biological processes are, without warm, shallow tropical seas where concentrations of
question, important components of the processes of dissolved ions increased to levels that permitted chemi-
chemical weathering and carbon cycling. And by exten- cal precipitation, apparently with little or no biological
sion, they contribute to the thermostat that moderates intervention. Floating planktic plants capable of photo-
Earth’s climate today. synthesis (coccolithophorida) evolved still later, in the
In its more extreme form, the Gaia hypothesis states last 250 Myr.
that all evolution on Earth has occurred for the greater Supporters of the Gaia hypothesis respond with sev-
good of the planet by producing the succession of life- eral counterarguments. First, they claim that critics
forms needed to keep the planet habitable. This view is underestimate the role of primitive life-forms such as
56 P A R T I I • Tectonic-Scale Climate Change

FIGURE 3-11 Life-forms and weathering Over Earth’s 4.55-

Byr history, plants evolved toward more complicated forms
capable of playing a greater role in chemical weathering.
Primitive organisms similar to (A) the modern bacteria Oscillatoria
existed by 3.5 Byr ago. The first simple land plants with roots
and stems similar to those of (B) the modern plant Psilotum
appeared by 430 Myr ago. Increasingly complex treelike plants
similar to (C) modern tropical cycads appeared by 400 Myr ago
and led to today’s diversity of trees and shrubs. (A: Sinclair
Stammers/Science Photo Library/Photo Researchers. B: William
Ormoerod/Visuals Unlimited; C: Gerald Cubit.)

B C

algae in the ocean and microbes on land early in Earth’s roughly with the disappearance of previously widespread
history. They point to recent discoveries that modern minerals such as FeS (pyrite, or “fool’s gold”), which form
bacteria with similarities to early primitive life-forms only under reducing conditions (no oxygen). The only
are now thought to play a greater role in the weathering conceivable source of the oxygen that caused the wide-
process than has generally been recognized, and they spread change to oxidized forms of iron is photosynthesis
suggest that these organisms must also have been by marine organisms, implying an active global-scale role
more important than generally thought early in Earth’s for these organisms far back in Earth’s history.
history, when they were the only life-forms present Gaia supporters also point out that the general path
on land. of biological evolution matches Earth’s need for pro-
One indication that early life-forms were important at gressively greater chemical weathering through time.
a global scale is the first development of an oxygen-rich The more primitive organisms played a much smaller
atmosphere near 2.3 Byr ago, even before the first multi- role in accelerating the process of chemical weathering
celled algae (see Figure 3-10). Evidence for this impor- during a time when it was to Earth’s advantage to retain
tant event includes the first appearance of rocks that show CO2 in its atmosphere to counter the weakness of the
red staining (rusting) of iron (Fe) minerals. The appear- faint young Sun. Then, as the Sun strengthened and
ance of oxidized iron minerals at this time coincides provided more heat to Earth, more advanced organisms
 C H A P T E R 3 • CO2 and Long-Term Climate 57

capable of accelerating the weathering process appeared, this interval, evidence that ice sheets were present
accelerated the rates of weathering, and pulled CO2 out (Figure 3-12). These rocks contain ice-deposited mix-
of the atmosphere to keep the climate system in approx- tures of coarse boulders and cobbles along with fine silts
imate balance. and clays (Chapter 2). Because these ancient deposits
are difficult to date and correlate accurately, scientists
IN SUMMARY, the Gaia hypothesis is fascinating and is have inferred that as few as two or as many as four
still being argued. Scientists generally agree about major glacial eras occurred during this long interval.
the “minimum” form of Gaia: the idea that living A critical question is whether these ice sheets existed
organisms have played a significant role in the near the poles or at lower latitudes. For at least one of
history of physical-chemical processes on Earth, the glacial intervals (but not some of the others), several
including chemical weathering. Still, the lines of evidence suggest that the glaciated continents
“maximum” claim embedded in the Gaia were in the tropics. This conclusion forms the basis of
hypothesis—that individual life-forms regulate their the novel idea that Earth was once nearly frozen—the
own evolution for the greater benefit of all life on snowball Earth hypothesis.
the planet—is not accepted by most scientists. One obvious cause contributing to a cooler Earth
Somewhere in between lies the answer to the role of was weaker solar heating from a Sun that was still 6%
biota in determining the presence of life on Earth. below its modern luminosity (see Figure 3-2). Accord-
ing to the thermostat concept, a cooler Earth would
have reduced the rate of chemical weathering and kept
Was There a “Thermostat Malfunction”? CO2 values higher and moderated global temperature.
In this case, however, climate models suggest that CO2
A Snowball Earth? concentrations would have had to have been lower than
Ice sheets occur today at high latitudes, yet they coexist today to permit ice sheets to exist in tropical latitudes.
with hot tropics where a strong overhead Sun heats the In this instance, the thermostat mechanism seems to
land and the tropical oceans. With the large pole-to- have malfunctioned, at least for a while.
equator gradient in temperature, polar ice sheets can The reason for the thermostat malfunction remains
easily coexist on a planet with tropical heat. unresolved. One explanation is that the continents were
For a continent-sized ice sheet to have existed near all clustered near the equator, where high temperatures,
the equator, temperatures in the normally hot tropics precipitation, and vegetation cover combined to drive
would have had to be near or below freezing through unusually strong chemical weathering. Paradoxically,
most of the year. Today’s frigid polar climates would this tropical clustering could have reduced CO2 con-
have had to have invaded the tropics to permit ice centrations and cooled the planet.
sheets to exist there. The debate about how cold this world was contin-
Some climate scientists have suggested that Earth ues. Some scientists feel that Earth was frozen “hard,”
came very close to freezing totally between approxi- with sea ice extending right to the equator. Model sim-
mately 750 and 550 Myr ago. Sedimentary deposits ulations generally point toward a “softer” freeze, with
from glaciers are found on several continents during sea ice reaching to middle latitudes but not into the

90°W 0° 90° 180°E

FIGURE 3-12 Snowball Earth?

N
Evidence of several glaciations between
60° 800 and 550 Myr ago exists in rocks on
the continents of today’s Earth. If these
glaciated regions were located in the
30° tropics, Earth must have been much
colder than today. (Adapted from L.
0° A. Frakes, Climates Through Geologic Time
[Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1979] and from
J. G. Meert and R. van der Voo,
30°
“Neoproterozoic (1000–540 Myr)
Glaciation 850–550 Myr ago Glacial Intervals: No More Snowball
60° Earth,” Earth and Planetary Science Letters
S 123 [1994]: 1–13.)
58 P A R T I I • Tectonic-Scale Climate Change

tropics. A hard freeze is difficult to achieve because the 4. What evidence suggests that Earth always had a
large amount of solar heat stored in the ocean at low long-term thermostat regulating its climate?
latitudes tends to keep the surface free of ice.
5. Why is volcanic input of CO2 to Earth’s
atmosphere a poor candidate for a thermostat?
Key Terms 6. What climate factors affect the removal of CO2
greenhouse era (p. 43) chemical weathering from the atmosphere by chemical weathering?
icehouse era (p. 43) thermostat (p. 51)
7. Where did the extra CO2 from Earth’s early
albedo (p. 44) water vapor feedback atmosphere go?
longwave radiation (p. 44) (p. 53)
Gaia hypothesis 8. What arguments support and oppose the Gaia
faint young Sun paradox hypothesis that life is Earth’s true thermostat?
(p. 45) (p. 53)
thermostat (p. 46) snowball Earth 9. If Earth’s surface froze solid, what would happen
hypothesis (p. 57) to CO2 emissions from volcanoes and to CO2
silicate minerals (p. 48)
removal by chemical weathering?

Review Questions Additional Resources

Basic Reading
1. Why is Venus so much warmer than Earth Companion Web site at www.whfreeman.com/
today? ruddiman2e, pp. 2–3, 30–33.
Kastings, J. F., O. B. Toon, and J. B. Pollack. 1988.
2. What factors explain why Earth is habitable
“How Climate Evolved on the Terrestrial Planets.”
today?
Scientific American (February), 90–97.
3. What is the faint young Sun paradox? Advanced Reading
Lovelock, J. 1995. The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of
Our Living Earth. New York: Norton.