A negative feedback mechanism for the long‐term stabilization of Earth's surface temperature

Abstract

We suggest that the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is buffered, over geological time scales, by a negative feedback mechanism in which the rate of weathering of silicate minerals (followed by deposition of carbonate minerals) depends on surface temperature, and surface temperature, in turn, depends on carbon dioxide partial pressure through the greenhouse effect. Although the quantitative details of this mechanism are speculative, it appears able partially to stabilize earth's surface temperature against the steady increase of solar luminosity believed to have occurred since the origin of the solar system.