Articles | Volume 21, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-2601-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-2601-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
17 Dec 2025
Research article |
| 17 Dec 2025
| 17 Dec 2025
Modelling the impact of palaeogeographical changes on weathering and CO2 during the Cretaceous–Eocene period
Nick R. Hayes
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol, UK, BS8 1RJ
Environment Agency, Horizon House, Deanery Road, Bristol, UK, BS1 5TL
Daniel J. Lunt
School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol, UK, BS8 1SS
Yves Goddéris
Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, CNRS – Université Paul Sabatier – IRD, 31400 Toulouse, France
Richard D. Pancost
School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol, UK, BS8 1RJ
Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Earth Sciences, Cabot Institute for the Environment, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK
Heather Buss
School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol, UK, BS8 1RJ
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Natalie J. Burls, Nicky M. Wright, R. Paul Acosta, Catherine D. Bradshaw, Edward Gasson, Lennert B. Stap, Gilles Ramstein, Anna Ruth W. Halberstadt, Agatha M. De Boer, Funda Akgün, David J. Cantrill, Manuel Casas-Gallego, Nela Doláková, Boglarka Erdei, Alex Farnsworth, Sarah Feakins, Ran Feng, Tamara Fletcher, Frédéric Fluteau, J. A. Mattias Green, Anna S. von der Heydt, Matthew Huber, David K. Hutchinson, Dimiter Ivanov, Mine Sezgül Kayseri-Özer, Gregor Knorr, Marianna Kováčová, Caroline H. Lear, Allegra N. LeGrande, Shufeng Li, Xiaoqing Liu, Daniel J. Lunt, Katrin Meissner, Yunfa Miao, Trusha J. Naik, Javier B. Navarro, Joseph B. Novak, Diana Ochoa, Guy J.G. Paxman, Matthew J. Pound, James W. B. Rae, Tammo Reichgelt, Martin Renoult, Francesca Sangiorgi, Anta-Clarisse Sarr, Diane Segalla, Pierre Sepulchre, Amelia Shevenell, Sebastian Steinig, Eivind Straume, Caroline A. E. Strömberg, Clay Tabor, Torsten Utescher, Julia E. Weiffenbach, Elżbieta Worobiec, Yurui Zhang, Feng Zhu, Jiang Zhu, Alexandra Auderset, Florence Colleoni, Aisling Dolan, Rachel Havranek, Ann Holbourn, Nicholas Herold, Daeun Lee, James W. Marschalek, Bryce Mitsunaga, Sevi Modestou, Lina Perez-Angel, Mae Saslaw, Sinda Sosdian, Elena Stiles, Yong Sun, Ning Tan, Zhongshi Zhang, and Yan Zhao
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3595, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3595, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).
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Simulating warm paleoclimates increases our understanding of the mechanisms that drive climatic change and tipping points. The Miocene Epoch, specifically the Miocene Climatic Optimum, has been identified as a particularly valuable past warm climate to simulate, meriting the design of a coordinated Miocene Model Intercomparison Project. Here we synthesize the latest available literature and present the experimental design for coordinated Miocene simulations and sensitivity studies.
Daniel J. Lunt, Nicky M. Wright, Bram Vaes, Ulrich Salzmann, James W. B. Rae, Thomas Hickler, David K. Hutchinson, Julia Brugger, Jiang Zhu, Sebastian Steinig, A. Nele Meckler, Gordon N. Inglis, David Evans, Agatha M. de Boer, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, Natalie Burls, Yurui Zhang, Appy Sluijs, Tammo Reichgelt, Igor Niezgodzki, Katrin Meissner, Jean-Baptiste Ladant, Fanni D. Kelemen, Matthew Huber, David R. Greenwood, Mattias Green, Flavia Boscolo-Galazzo, Manuel Tobias Blau, and Michiel Baatsen
Geosci. Model Dev., 19, 6143–6166, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-6143-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-6143-2026, 2026
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The early Eocene, about 50 million years ago, was a super-warm period of Earth's history, with high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Here, we provide a framework and experimental design for climate modellers to carry out a coordinated project, simulating this period. This is the second phase of this project, and here we provide updated maps of the Earth's mountains and ocean floor, and vegetation, to enable more accurate modelling.
Mike Vreeken, Megan N. Jenkins, Siwei Mai, Rebecca H. Peel, Yiming Zhang, Toby A. Halamka, Amelia Oakeshott, Simon M. K. Cheung, Panteleimon Prokopiou, Sam Rangdale, Jerome Blewett, D. Paola Alarcon Prado, Juan C. Benavides, Frank Kansiime, Ellen Kayendeke, Carol Kagaba Kairumba, B. David A. Naafs, Casey Bryce, Angela V. Gallego-Sala, and Richard D. Pancost
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3069, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3069, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
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The stability of carbon stored in tropical peat systems is linked to molecular composition of peat. We studied the molecular composition of peatland plants, litter, and peat at several depths using seven representative tropical peatlands, and two temperate peatlands as comparison. Most sites show that deeper peat have relatively more harder-to-degrade molecules, such as lignin, against easy-to-degrade molecules. But a fingerprint of the original plant material persists regardless of degradation.
Amar Mistry, Dan Lunt, and Xin Ren
The Cryosphere, 19, 6989–7012, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6989-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-6989-2025, 2025
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The Antarctic Ice Sheet is melting and adding fresh water into the Southern Ocean, affecting the global climate system. Here, we conduct model experiments in which water is input into the Southern Ocean. We find a significant response of the climate system to this meltwater; however, the manner in which the Antarctic Ice Sheet loses mass does not strongly control this response. The implications are that Antarctic meltwater should be included in future climate model projections.
Loïc Sablon, Pierre Maffre, Yves Goddéris, Paul J. Valdes, Justin Gérard, Jarno J. C. Huygh, Anne-Christine Da Silva, and Michel Crucifix
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 10095–10117, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-10095-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-10095-2025, 2025
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We propose an innovative climate modelling framework that combines statistical methods with climate simulations to study Earth's environmental systems. The model captures how orbital changes and carbon dioxide levels influence climate atmospheric dynamics, offering a detailed and efficient way to explore long-term processes. This tool provides new opportunities to investigate Earth's climate history and its implications for future changes.
Peter K. Bijl, Kasia K. Śliwińska, Bella Duncan, Arnaud Huguet, Sebastian Naeher, Ronnakrit Rattanasriampaipong, Claudia Sosa-Montes de Oca, Alexandra Auderset, Melissa A. Berke, Bum Soo Kim, Nina Davtian, Tom Dunkley Jones, Desmond D. Eefting, Felix J. Elling, Pierrick Fenies, Gordon N. Inglis, Lauren O'Connor, Richard D. Pancost, Francien Peterse, Addison Rice, Appy Sluijs, Devika Varma, Wenjie Xiao, and Yi Ge Zhang
Biogeosciences, 22, 6465–6508, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-6465-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-6465-2025, 2025
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Many academic laboratories worldwide process environmental samples for analysis of membrane lipid molecules of archaea, for the reconstruction of past environmental conditions. However, the sample workup scheme involves many steps, each of which has a risk of contamination or bias, affecting the results. This paper reviews steps involved in sampling, extraction and analysis of lipids, interpretation and archiving of the data. This ensures reproducible, reusable, comparable and consistent data.
Pierre Maffre, Yves Goddéris, Guillaume Le Hir, Élise Nardin, Anta-Clarisse Sarr, and Yannick Donnadieu
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 6367–6413, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-6367-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-6367-2025, 2025
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A new version (v7) of the numerical model GEOCLIM is presented here. GEOCLIM models the evolution of ocean and atmosphere chemical composition on multi-million-year timescales, including carbon and oxygen cycles, CO2, and climate. GEOCLIM is associated with a climate model, and a new procedure to link the climate model to GEOCLIM is presented here. GEOCLIM is applied here to investigate the evolution of ocean oxygenation following Earth's orbital parameter variations around 94 million years ago.
Johan Liakka, Natalie S. Lord, Alan Kennedy-Asser, Daniel J. Lunt, Charles J. R. Williams, and Jens-Ove Näslund
Adv. Geosci., 65, 71–81, https://doi.org/10.5194/adgeo-65-71-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/adgeo-65-71-2024, 2024
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Future glaciations can affect the long-term safety of deep geological repositories for nuclear waste. This study introduces a simple method to assess frequency and duration of ice sheets over the next one million years at locations with past glaciations. The method considers uncertainties in human-caused CO2 emissions and climate change. It is easy to implement for any nuclear waste management organization that need to consider impacts of future ice sheets on long-term safety.
Yixuan Xie, Daniel J. Lunt, and Paul J. Valdes
Clim. Past, 20, 2561–2585, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2561-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2561-2024, 2024
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Desert dust plays a crucial role in the climate system; while it is relatively well studied for the present day, we still lack knowledge on how it was in the past and on its underlying mechanism in the multi-million-year timescale of Earth’s history. For the first time, we simulate dust emissions using the newly developed DUSTY1.0 model over the past 540 million years with a temporal resolution of ~5 million years. We find that palaeogeography is the primary control of these variations.
Dongyu Zheng, Andrew S. Merdith, Yves Goddéris, Yannick Donnadieu, Khushboo Gurung, and Benjamin J. W. Mills
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 5413–5429, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5413-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5413-2024, 2024
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This study uses a deep learning method to upscale the time resolution of paleoclimate simulations to 1 million years. This improved resolution allows a climate-biogeochemical model to more accurately predict climate shifts. The method may be critical in developing new fully continuous methods that are able to be applied over a moving continental surface in deep time with high resolution at reasonable computational expense.
Mohd Al Farid Abraham, Bernhard David A. Naafs, Vittoria Lauretano, Fotis Sgouridis, and Richard D. Pancost
Clim. Past, 19, 2569–2580, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2569-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2569-2023, 2023
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Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE 2), about 93.5 million years ago, is characterized by widespread deoxygenated ocean and massive burial of organic-rich sediments. Our results show that the marine deoxygenation at the equatorial Atlantic that predates the OAE 2 interval was driven by global warming and associated with the nutrient status of the site, with factors like temperature-modulated upwelling and hydrology-induced weathering contributing to enhanced nutrient delivery over various timescales.
Xin Ren, Daniel J. Lunt, Erica Hendy, Anna von der Heydt, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Bette Otto-Bliesner, Charles J. R. Williams, Christian Stepanek, Chuncheng Guo, Deepak Chandan, Gerrit Lohmann, Julia C. Tindall, Linda E. Sohl, Mark A. Chandler, Masa Kageyama, Michiel L. J. Baatsen, Ning Tan, Qiong Zhang, Ran Feng, Stephen Hunter, Wing-Le Chan, W. Richard Peltier, Xiangyu Li, Youichi Kamae, Zhongshi Zhang, and Alan M. Haywood
Clim. Past, 19, 2053–2077, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2053-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2053-2023, 2023
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We investigate the Maritime Continent climate in the mid-Piacenzian warm period and find it is warmer and wetter and the sea surface salinity is lower compared with preindustrial period. Besides, the fresh and warm water transfer through the Maritime Continent was stronger. In order to avoid undue influence from closely related models in the multimodel results, we introduce a new metric, the multi-cluster mean, which could reveal spatial signals that are not captured by the multimodel mean.
Caitlyn R. Witkowski, Vittoria Lauretano, Alex Farnsworth, Shufeng Li, Shi-Hu Li, Jan Peter Mayser, B. David A. Naafs, Robert A. Spicer, Tao Su, He Tang, Zhe-Kun Zhou, Paul J. Valdes, and Richard D. Pancost
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-373, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-373, 2023
Preprint archived
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Untangling the complex tectonic evolution in the Tibetan region can help us understand its impacts on climate, the Asian monsoon system, and the development of major biodiversity hotspots. We show that this “missing link” site between high elevation Tibet and low elevation coastal China had a dynamic environment but no temperature change, meaning its been at its current-day elevation for the past 34 million years.
Julia E. Weiffenbach, Michiel L. J. Baatsen, Henk A. Dijkstra, Anna S. von der Heydt, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Esther C. Brady, Wing-Le Chan, Deepak Chandan, Mark A. Chandler, Camille Contoux, Ran Feng, Chuncheng Guo, Zixuan Han, Alan M. Haywood, Qiang Li, Xiangyu Li, Gerrit Lohmann, Daniel J. Lunt, Kerim H. Nisancioglu, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, W. Richard Peltier, Gilles Ramstein, Linda E. Sohl, Christian Stepanek, Ning Tan, Julia C. Tindall, Charles J. R. Williams, Qiong Zhang, and Zhongshi Zhang
Clim. Past, 19, 61–85, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-61-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-61-2023, 2023
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We study the behavior of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in the mid-Pliocene. The mid-Pliocene was about 3 million years ago and had a similar CO2 concentration to today. We show that the stronger AMOC during this period relates to changes in geography and that this has a significant influence on ocean temperatures and heat transported northwards by the Atlantic Ocean. Understanding the behavior of the mid-Pliocene AMOC can help us to learn more about our future climate.
Christopher J. Hollis, Sebastian Naeher, Christopher D. Clowes, B. David A. Naafs, Richard D. Pancost, Kyle W. R. Taylor, Jenny Dahl, Xun Li, G. Todd Ventura, and Richard Sykes
Clim. Past, 18, 1295–1320, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1295-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1295-2022, 2022
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Previous studies of Paleogene greenhouse climates identified short-lived global warming events, termed hyperthermals, that provide insights into global warming scenarios. Within the same time period, we have identified a short-lived cooling event in the late Paleocene, which we term a hypothermal, that has potential to provide novel insights into the feedback mechanisms at work in a greenhouse climate.
Zixuan Han, Qiong Zhang, Qiang Li, Ran Feng, Alan M. Haywood, Julia C. Tindall, Stephen J. Hunter, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, Esther C. Brady, Nan Rosenbloom, Zhongshi Zhang, Xiangyu Li, Chuncheng Guo, Kerim H. Nisancioglu, Christian Stepanek, Gerrit Lohmann, Linda E. Sohl, Mark A. Chandler, Ning Tan, Gilles Ramstein, Michiel L. J. Baatsen, Anna S. von der Heydt, Deepak Chandan, W. Richard Peltier, Charles J. R. Williams, Daniel J. Lunt, Jianbo Cheng, Qin Wen, and Natalie J. Burls
Clim. Past, 17, 2537–2558, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2537-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2537-2021, 2021
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Understanding the potential processes responsible for large-scale hydrological cycle changes in a warmer climate is of great importance. Our study implies that an imbalance in interhemispheric atmospheric energy during the mid-Pliocene could have led to changes in the dynamic effect, offsetting the thermodynamic effect and, hence, altering mid-Pliocene hydroclimate cycling. Moreover, a robust westward shift in the Pacific Walker circulation can moisten the northern Indian Ocean.
Arthur M. Oldeman, Michiel L. J. Baatsen, Anna S. von der Heydt, Henk A. Dijkstra, Julia C. Tindall, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Alice R. Booth, Esther C. Brady, Wing-Le Chan, Deepak Chandan, Mark A. Chandler, Camille Contoux, Ran Feng, Chuncheng Guo, Alan M. Haywood, Stephen J. Hunter, Youichi Kamae, Qiang Li, Xiangyu Li, Gerrit Lohmann, Daniel J. Lunt, Kerim H. Nisancioglu, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, W. Richard Peltier, Gabriel M. Pontes, Gilles Ramstein, Linda E. Sohl, Christian Stepanek, Ning Tan, Qiong Zhang, Zhongshi Zhang, Ilana Wainer, and Charles J. R. Williams
Clim. Past, 17, 2427–2450, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2427-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2427-2021, 2021
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In this work, we have studied the behaviour of El Niño events in the mid-Pliocene, a period of around 3 million years ago, using a collection of 17 climate models. It is an interesting period to study, as it saw similar atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to the present day. We find that the El Niño events were less strong in the mid-Pliocene simulations, when compared to pre-industrial climate. Our results could help to interpret El Niño behaviour in future climate projections.
Katherine A. Crichton, Andy Ridgwell, Daniel J. Lunt, Alex Farnsworth, and Paul N. Pearson
Clim. Past, 17, 2223–2254, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2223-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2223-2021, 2021
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The middle Miocene (15 Ma) was a period of global warmth up to 8 °C warmer than present. We investigate changes in ocean circulation and heat distribution since the middle Miocene and the cooling to the present using the cGENIE Earth system model. We create seven time slices at ~2.5 Myr intervals, constrained with paleo-proxy data, showing a progressive reduction in atmospheric CO2 and a strengthening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.
Charles J. R. Williams, Alistair A. Sellar, Xin Ren, Alan M. Haywood, Peter Hopcroft, Stephen J. Hunter, William H. G. Roberts, Robin S. Smith, Emma J. Stone, Julia C. Tindall, and Daniel J. Lunt
Clim. Past, 17, 2139–2163, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2139-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2139-2021, 2021
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Computer simulations of the geological past are an important tool to improve our understanding of climate change. We present results from a simulation of the mid-Pliocene (approximately 3 million years ago) using the latest version of the UK’s climate model. The simulation reproduces temperatures as expected and shows some improvement relative to previous versions of the same model. The simulation is, however, arguably too warm when compared to other models and available observations.
Ellen Berntell, Qiong Zhang, Qiang Li, Alan M. Haywood, Julia C. Tindall, Stephen J. Hunter, Zhongshi Zhang, Xiangyu Li, Chuncheng Guo, Kerim H. Nisancioglu, Christian Stepanek, Gerrit Lohmann, Linda E. Sohl, Mark A. Chandler, Ning Tan, Camille Contoux, Gilles Ramstein, Michiel L. J. Baatsen, Anna S. von der Heydt, Deepak Chandan, William Richard Peltier, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Wing-Le Chan, Youichi Kamae, Charles J. R. Williams, Daniel J. Lunt, Ran Feng, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, and Esther C. Brady
Clim. Past, 17, 1777–1794, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1777-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1777-2021, 2021
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The mid-Pliocene Warm Period (~ 3.2 Ma) is often considered an analogue for near-future climate projections, and model results from the PlioMIP2 ensemble show an increase of rainfall over West Africa and the Sahara region compared to pre-industrial conditions. Though previous studies of future projections show a west–east drying–wetting contrast over the Sahel, these results indicate a uniform rainfall increase over the Sahel in warm climates characterized by increased greenhouse gas forcing.
Felipe S. Freitas, Philip A. Pika, Sabine Kasten, Bo B. Jørgensen, Jens Rassmann, Christophe Rabouille, Shaun Thomas, Henrik Sass, Richard D. Pancost, and Sandra Arndt
Biogeosciences, 18, 4651–4679, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4651-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4651-2021, 2021
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It remains challenging to fully understand what controls carbon burial in marine sediments globally. Thus, we use a model–data approach to identify patterns of organic matter reactivity at the seafloor across distinct environmental conditions. Our findings support the notion that organic matter reactivity is a dynamic ecosystem property and strongly influences biogeochemical cycling and exchange. Our results are essential to improve predictions of future changes in carbon cycling and climate.
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Short summary
The breakdown of volcanic rocks by water helps balance the climate of the Earth by sequestering atmospheric CO2. The rate of CO2 sequestration is referred to as "weatherability". Our modelling study finds that continental position strongly impacts CO2 concentrations, that runoff strongly controls weatherability, that changes in weatherability may explain long-term trends in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and that even relatively localised changes in weatherability may have global impacts.
The breakdown of volcanic rocks by water helps balance the climate of the Earth by sequestering...
