An Effective Climate Change Solution May Lie in Rocks Beneath Our Feet

Why has Earth’s climate remained so stable over geological time? The answer just might rock you.

Rocks, particularly the types created by volcanic activity, play a critical role in keeping Earth’s long-term climate stable and cycling carbon dioxide between land, oceans and the atmosphere.

Scientists have known for decades that rock weathering – the chemical breakdown of minerals in mountains and soils – removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and transforms it into stable minerals on the planet’s surface and in ocean sediments. But because this process operates over millions of years, it is too weak to offset modern global warming from human activities.

Now, however, emerging science – including at the California Collaborative for Climate Change Solutions’ (C4) Working Lands Innovation Center – shows that it is possible to accelerate rock weathering rates. Enhanced rock weathering could both slow global warming and improve soil health, making it possible to grow crops more efficiently and bolster food security.

Rock chemistry

Many processes weather rocks on Earth’s surface, influenced by chemistry, biology, climate and plate tectonics. The dominant form of chemical weathering occurs when carbon dioxide combines with water in the soil and the ocean to make carbonic acid.

About 95% of Earth’s crust and mantle – the thick layer between the planet’s crust and its core – is made of silicate minerals, which are compounds of silicon and oxygen. Silicates are the main ingredient in most igneous rocks, which form when volcanic material cools and hardens. Such rocks make up about 15% of Earth’s land surface.

When carbonic acid comes in contact with certain silicate minerals, it triggers a chemical process known as the Urey reaction. This reaction pulls gaseous carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and combines it with water and calcium or magnesium silicates, producing two bicarbonate ions. Once the carbon dioxide is trapped in these soil carbonates, or ultimately washed into the ocean, it no longer warms the climate.

Why negative emissions matter

Under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, nations have pledged to limit global warming to less then 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. This will require massive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

Pulling carbon dioxide from the air – also known as negative emissions – is also necessary to avoid the worst climate change outcomes, because atmospheric carbon dioxide has an average lifespan of more than 100 years. Every molecule of carbon dioxide that is released to the atmosphere through fossil fuel combustion or land clearing will remain there for many decades trapping heat and warming Earth’s surface.

Nations need a portfolio of solutions to create negative emissions. Enhanced weathering is poised for rapid scale-up, taking advantage of farm equipment that’s already in place, global mining operations and supply chains that currently deliver fertilizers and seeds worldwide. By addressing soil erosion and food security along with climate change, I believe rock weathering can help humans escape the hard place we find ourselves in today.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. | Benjamin Z. Houlton, Professor of Global Environmental Studies, Chancellor's Fellow and Director, John Muir Institute of the Environment, University of California, Davis