Long-term climate forcing by atmospheric oxygen concentrations
@article{Poulsen2015LongtermCF, title={Long-term climate forcing by atmospheric oxygen concentrations}, author={Christopher J. Poulsen and Clay R. Tabor and Joseph D. White}, journal={Science}, year={2015}, volume={348}, pages={1238 - 1241} }
Change was in the air The atmospheric fraction of molecular oxygen gas, O2, currently at 21%, is thought to have varied between around 35 and 15% over the past 500 million years. Because O2 is not a greenhouse gas, often this variability has not been considered in studies of climate change. Poulson and Wright show that indirect effects of oxygen abundance, caused by contributions to atmospheric pressure and mean molecular weight, can affect precipitation and atmospheric humidity (see the…
77 Citations
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Replies to Reviewer Comments
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The amount of dioxygen (O2) in the atmosphere may have varied from as little as 10: 5 % to as high as 35 % during the Phanerozoic eon (541 Ma – Present). These changes in the amount of O2 are large…
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