US EditionUC Riverside Study Reveals Earth's Climate System Could Overcorrect, Trigger Ice Age
UC Riverside researchers found a carbon cycle feedback where ocean carbon burial overcorrects warming, potentially causing temperature drops exceeding 6°C, enough to trigger an ice age.
- New modeling shows University of California, Riverside researchers identified a missing carbon cycle element that could trigger an ice age, the study published in Science on September 25, 2025 finds.
- Rain and rock weathering capture atmospheric CO2 as rain dissolves silicate rocks like granite, combining carbon with dissolved calcium to form seashells and limestone that lock carbon away.
- Simulations reveal overcooling exceeding 6°C and persistent cooling as CO2 drops, strongest at intermediate oxygenation states, with Andy Ridgwell saying, `As the planet gets hotter, rocks weather faster and take up more CO₂, cooling the planet back down again.`
- Researchers warn human CO2 emissions will cause short-term warming, but the mechanism could bring forward the next ice age; Andy Ridgwell, UCR geologist, urges to `limit ongoing warming`.
- The mechanism also ties to ancient events, as the study tested 10,000 billion tons released over 10,000 years and links instability to Precambrian oxygenation transitions, opening new research directions.
20 Articles
20 Articles
How Earth’s 'Thermostat' Can Malfunction, Flipping Global Warming Into Ice-Age Level Cooling
New modeling shows that global warming events can, under certain conditions, trigger long-term cooling strong enough to resemble ice age conditions, according to researchers at the University of California, Riverside. The post How Earth’s ‘Thermostat’ Can Malfunction, Flipping Global Warming Into Ice-Age Level Cooling appeared first on Study Finds.
Climate consensus skeptics like to point out that just a few decades ago, some scientists considered the arrival of a new ice age to be a greater threat.
Carbon Cycle 'Flaw' Could Plunge Earth Into Ice Age
UC Riverside researchers have discovered a piece that was missing in previous descriptions of the way Earth recycles its carbon. As a result, they believe that global warming can overcorrect into an ice age.
Eurek Alert
ucr.eduCarbon cycle flaw can plunge Earth into an ice age
UC Riverside researchers have discovered a piece that was missing in previous descriptions of the way Earth recycles its carbon. As a result, they believe that global warming can overcorrect into an ice age.
Carbon cycle flaw could push Earth into an ice age as planet overcorrects for warming
UC Riverside researchers have discovered a piece that was missing in previous descriptions of the way Earth recycles its carbon. As a result, they believe that global warming can overcorrect into an ice age.
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