ESS200A
Prof. Jin-Yi Yu
Earth’s Thermostat – Chemical Weathering
qChemical weathering acts as Earth’s thermostat and regulate its long-term climate.
qThis thermostat mechanism lies in two facts:
(1)
the average global rate of chemical weathering depends on the state of Earth’s climate,
(2)
weathering also has the capacity to alter that state by regulating the rate which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere.
(from
Earth’s Climate: Past and Future)