Feedbacks upon feedbacks: Rock weathering and the climate - Ars Technica Skip to content Ars Technica home Sections Forum Subscribe Search AI Biz & IT Cars Culture Gaming Health Policy Science Security Space Tech Feature Reviews AI Biz & IT Cars Culture Gaming Health Policy Science Security Space Tech Forum Subscribe Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Pin to story Theme HyperLight Day & Night Dark System Search Sign In Sign in dialog... Sign in Up in the air Feedbacks upon feedbacks: Rock weathering and the climate Rock weathering may release or draw down carbon dioxide—it depends on the rock. Howard Lee – Jun 26, 2026 10:41 am | 15 183-million-year-old mudstone from a hole drilled in Wales. Credit: Stephen Hesselbo 183-million-year-old mudstone from a hole drilled in Wales. Credit: Stephen Hesselbo Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav Since the early 1980s , Earth scientists have understood that erosion and weathering of rock slowly removes CO 2 from the atmosphere, regulating Earth’s climate on geological timescales. But recent studies have shown that erosion can also emit CO 2 by oxidizing organic carbon contained in eroding sediments.
It hasn’t been clear how this competition between removal by rock weathering and emission by organic carbon weathering ends up affecting Earth’s climate. A new study in the journal Nature Communications uses the geological past to test how these competing effects added up. Doctor Madeleine Stow of the University of Oxford, with colleagues from across the UK and France, examined a volcanically triggered episode of global warming that happened in the early part of the Jurassic period, 183 million years ago, known as the “Toarcian Ocean Anoxic Event.” They found that eroding organic carbon amplified climate warming at the time, suggesting that the same process may apply to modern climate change. But the extent to which the past is prologue is uncertain.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/06/feedbacks-upon-feedbacks-rock-weathering-and-the-climate/
It hasn’t been clear how this competition between removal by rock weathering and emission by organic carbon weathering ends up affecting Earth’s climate. A new study in the journal Nature Communications uses the geological past to test how these competing effects added up. Doctor Madeleine Stow of the University of Oxford, with colleagues from across the UK and France, examined a volcanically triggered episode of global warming that happened in the early part of the Jurassic period, 183 million years ago, known as the “Toarcian Ocean Anoxic Event.” They found that eroding organic carbon amplified climate warming at the time, suggesting that the same process may apply to modern climate change. But the extent to which the past is prologue is uncertain.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/06/feedbacks-upon-feedbacks-rock-weathering-and-the-climate/