Volcanoes regulate the global climate on Earth through chemical weathering

An international team of researchers led by scientists from the University of Southampton in the UK

conducted the research.They studied the impact on climate of various processes that occur in the interior of our planet, as well as in the oceans and atmosphere over the past 400 million years. Researchers paid special attention to volcanic processes. The results were published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The natural destruction and dissolution of rocks on the Earth's surface is called chemical weathering.
This process is extremely important because weathering products—elements such as calcium and magnesium—are washed by rivers into the oceans, where they form minerals that trap CO₂.
This feedback mechanism regulates atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and, in turn, global climate.

“It turns out something like a feedback mechanismto regulate the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air,” explains professor of oceanology and climate change Elko Roling, one of the authors of the project.

Volcanoes emit enormous amounts of CO₂ intoa time of extensive eruptions, seriously affecting the Earth's climate. These same volcanoes are subject to rapid weathering, which results in the removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere. “Volcanoes should be considered a kind of safety valve that regulates the climate,” the scientist adds.

Artificially enhanced weathering of rocks— where rocks are crushed and scattered over land to speed up the rate of chemical reactions — may play a key role in safely removing CO₂ from the atmosphere, the study authors note. However, it is safer and faster to reduce emissions, they conclude.

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