Given their need to access rock-bound minerals

The study reveals that the first land plants triggered a series of ice ages by removing minerals, like calcium, magnesium cheap burberry outlet 2012 and others, from rocks in order to live.

“Given their need to access rock-bound minerals, we suggest that these first colonizers actually caused a substantial change in chemical weathering, with a significant impact on the global carbon cycle and climate,” the researchers write in the study.

According to the study, the “chemical weathering” caused by the land plants’ need to grow eliminated carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and lowered global temperatures by approximately 5 degrees Celsius.

Tim Lenton, one of the study’s lead researchers and a professor at the University of Exeter, posited that it is highly unlikely that plants will ever be able to trigger a series of ice ages again.Burberry watches, designer burberry watch cheap outlet 2012.

The researchers combined Physcomitrella patens (moss) and rocks in incubators to recreate the “chemical weathering” effect the first land plants had on the ancient rocks. After three months, the researchers deployed an Earth system model to determine how the plants could have impacted the Earth’s climate millions of years ago.

“This study demonstrates the powerful effects that plants have on our climate. Although plants are still cooling the Earth’s climate by reducing atmospheric carbon levels, they cannot keep up with the speed of today’s human-induced climate change. In fact, it would take millions of years for plants to remove current carbon emissions from the atmosphere,” Mr. Lenton said, according to the John Innes Centre.

Liam Dolan, another one of the study’s lead researchers and a professor at Oxford University, talked about the study’s importance to those concerned about climate change and other environmental issues.

“For me the most important take-home moncler jackets cheap message is that the invasion of the land by plants – a pivotal time in the history of the planet – brought about huge climate changes. Our discovery emphasises that plants have a central regulatory role in the control of climate: they did yesterday, they do today and they certainly will in the future,” Mr. Dolan posited.

The study was led by a team with members from multiple universities, including Exeter, Oxford and East Anglia. The John Innes Centre also contributed to the study. The Earth and Life Systems Alliance, which moncler jackets is a collaboration between the John Innes Centre and the University of East Anglia, funded the study.