Can climate feel the pressure?
Abstract
Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations are widely held to be the main driver of climate change through the Phanerozoic (the past 541 million years), with warm intervals corresponding to high CO2 concentrations and cold intervals having low CO2 concentrations (1) (see the figure). However, paleoclimate models often cannot match proxy estimates of temperature and precipitation unless unrealistic CO2 concentrations are prescribed (2, 3). The solution may come from an unexpected direction: atmospheric oxygen (O2), which is not a greenhouse gas and thus provides no direct greenhouse forcing. On page 1238 of this issue, Poulsen et al. (4) report model results that identify O2 as an important climate driver through its contribution to total atmospheric pressure.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Already a Subscriber?Sign In
References
1
Royer D., Treatise Geochem. 6, 251 (2014).
2
Huber M., Caballero R., Clim. Past 7, 603 (2011).
3
Soreghan G. S., et al., Geology 36, 659 (2008).
4
Poulsen C. J., Tabor C., White J. D., Science 348, 1238 (2015).
5
Berner R. A., Vandenbrooks J. M., Ward P. D., Science 316, 557 (2007).
6
Falkowski P. G., et al., Science 309, 2202 (2005).
7
Greenwood D. R., et al., Geology 38, 15 (2010).
8
Montañez I. P., Poulsen C. J., Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 41, 629 (2013).
9
Glasspool I. J., Scott A. C., Nat. Geosci. 3, 627 (2010).
10
Tappert R., et al., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 121, 240 (2013).
11
Arvidson R. S., Mackenzie F. T., Guidry M. W., Chem. Geol. 362, 287 (2013).
12
Royer D. L., Donnadieu Y., Park J., Kowalczyk J., Goddéris Y., Am. J. Sci. 314, 1259 (2014).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Science
Volume 348 | Issue 6240
12 June 2015
12 June 2015
Copyright
Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Published in print: 12 June 2015
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Article Usage
Altmetrics
Citations
Export citation
Select the format you want to export the citation of this publication.
Cited by
- Earth’s Climate System, Paris Climate Agreement: Beacon of Hope, (1-50), (2017).https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46939-3_1
- CO2 and temperature decoupling at the million-year scale during the Cretaceous Greenhouse, Scientific Reports, 7, 1, (2017).https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08234-0
Loading...
View Options
Get Access
Log in to view the full text
AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.
- Become a AAAS Member
- Activate your Account
- Purchase Access to Other Journals in the Science Family
- Account Help
Log in via OpenAthens.
Log in via Shibboleth.
More options
Purchase digital access to this article
Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use.
Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.
View options
PDF format
Download this article as a PDF file
Download PDF