Li, Z-H, Guo, Z, Chen, Z-Q et al. (4 more authors) (2021) A novel carbon cycle turbulence index identifies environmental and ecological perturbations. Geochemical Perspectives Letters, 20. pp. 11-15. ISSN 2410-3403
Abstract
Earth’s history has been characterised by complex interactions between life and the environment, which are often difficult to resolve. Here, we propose a new carbon cycle turbulence index (CTindex), based on the carbonate-carbon isotope (δ13Ccarb) record, to measure the extent of environmental perturbation over the last billion years. The CTindex trend is closely linked to Phanerozoic biotic extinction rates (ERs), as calculated from a palaeobiology database, supporting a strong environmental control on biotic ERs. We use the empirical CTindex—ER relationship to compare the extent of environmental perturbation due to greenhouse gas emissions with that during the Permian-Triassic (PTr) transition (∼252 Ma), representing the most severe mass extinction of the Phanerozoic. At the current peak of fossil fuel emissions, the CTindex indicates a moderate future environmental perturbation. However, if fossil fuel emissions increase into the next century, a pronounced CTindex peak greater than that which occurred during the PTr transition is indicated, which suggests the potential for a severe “sixth mass extinction” in the future.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) |
Keywords: | carbon isotope, extinction rates, Permian-Triassic transition, the industrial revolution, Phanerozoic, Suess effect |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 14 Jan 2022 09:52 |
Last Modified: | 14 Jan 2022 09:52 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | European Association of Geochemistry |
Identification Number: | 10.7185/geochemlet.2137 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:182105 |