Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Carbon cycle

Checking the thermostat

Nature Geoscience volume 1, pages 289–290 (2008)Cite this article

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels greatly influence the Earth's climate. Evidence from ice cores and marine sediments suggests that over timescales beyond the glacial cycles, carbon fluxes are finely balanced and act to stabilize temperatures.

A planetary thermostat regulating the temperature of the surface of the Earth on geologic timescales through carbon cycle feedbacks was first postulated by Walker in 19822. Sagan and Mullin3 suggested that a thermostat could explain why the Earth hasn't overheated in response to the slow increase in luminosity of the aging Sun. Self-regulation is also the central tenet at the heart of the Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock4. In this hypothesis, the Earth's biosphere maintains the surface temperature, as well as geochemical properties such as atmospheric oxygen concentrations.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The carbon cycle.

References

  1. Zeebe, R. & Caldeira K. Nature Geosci. 1, 312–315 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Walker, J. C. G. et al. J. Geophys. Res. 86, 9776–9782 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Sagan, C. & Mullen, G. Science 177, 52–56 (1972).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Lovelock, J. E. Tellus 26, 2–9 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Berner R. A. et al. Am. J. Sci. 283, 641–683 (1983).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Dickens, G. R., Castillo, M. M. & Walker, J. C. Geology 25, 259–262 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Edmond, J. M. & Hu, Y. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 213, 125–139 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. David Archer is in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. d-archer@uchicago.edu,

    David Archer

Authors
  1. David Archer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Archer, D. Checking the thermostat. Nature Geosci 1, 289–290 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo194

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo194

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing