Before Fossil Fuels, Earth's Minerals Kept Carbon Dioxide In Check
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - 13:55
in Earth & Climate
Over millions of years carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have been moderated by a finely-tuned natural feedback system -- a system that human emissions have recently overwhelmed. Scientists have now linked the pre-human stability to connections between carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the breakdown of minerals in the Earth's crust.