Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences

Carbon's hidden superpower: How extreme warming can trigger an ice age

tomwt — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 23:03:39 +0000

Carbon's hidden superpower: How extreme warming can trigger an ice age tomwt Fri, 02/20/2026 - 15:03 More CNAS in the Media Nathan Howes | The Weather Network February 15, 2026

THE WEATHER NETWORK - Scientists may have solved a mystery of how Earth recycles its carbon, and what it could mean for the future.

The general understanding of how Earth's climate is regulated is that it happens through the climate-sensitive reaction of carbon dioxide (CO2) removal by the weathering of silicate rocks on land.

As a result, there is a negative, stabilizing feedback on CO2 that behaves as a planetary climate “thermostat,” so to speak, according to authors of a recent study. But the extreme cooling and "snowball Earth" affairs that were periodic during the Precambrian era (prior to 539 million years ago) indicated there were past instances of the aforementioned moderation process breaking down.

As well, a potential secondary thermostat and an additional, planetary CO2 removal mechanism were alluded to during the times of respite from the far-reaching, organic carbon burial in Earth's history.

“As the planet gets hotter, rocks weather faster and take up more CO2, cooling the planet back down again,” said Andy Ridgwell, University of California, Riverside (UCR) geologist and co-author of the September 2025 study, in a news release.

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Andy Ridgwell

Mars's gravity may help control Earth’s cycle of ice ages

tomwt — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 18:20:07 +0000

Mars's gravity may help control Earth’s cycle of ice ages tomwt Mon, 01/26/2026 - 10:20 More CNAS in the Media Leah Crane | New Scientist January 26, 2026

NEW SCIENTIST - Compared with Earth, Mars is tiny, yet it seems to have an outsized effect on our planet’s climate cycles. Similar small planets could affect the climates of worlds beyond our solar system, which we must begin to take into account when evaluating their potential habitability.

Stephen Kane at the University of California, Riverside, and his colleagues found this effect by running simulations of the influence Mars would have on Earth’s orbit if it were a different mass, from 100 times its actual mass to if it were gone entirely. “I came to this from a perspective of scepticism, actually, because I had trouble believing that Mars, which is only a tenth the mass of Earth, could have such a profound effect on Earth’s cycles, so that’s what motivated this study to turn that knob of Mars’s mass and see what happens,” says Kane.

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How Mars influences Earth’s climate

tomwt — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 17:33:21 +0000

How Mars influences Earth’s climate tomwt Wed, 01/21/2026 - 09:33 More CNAS in the Media Devika Rao | The Week US January 20, 2026

THE WEEK - Small but mighty, the red planet — our celestial neighbor — has made Earth’s climate what it is today. Mars’ gravitational pull serves as a stabilizing force for our home’s orbit, tilt and position from the sun. Without it, life could potentially have been a lot different from what we know today.

How does Mars’ gravity impact Earth?
Despite being approximately half the size of Earth and one-tenth its mass, Mars’ gravity has had a sizable effect on Earth’s climate, according to a study published in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Specifically, the red planet is “quietly tugging on Earth’s orbit and shaping the cycles that drive long-term climate patterns here,” said a release about the study.

Earth’s climate is largely driven by Milankovitch cycles, which are “long-term variations in our planet’s orbit and tilt governed by the gravitational pull of other planets in the solar system,” said Space.com (a sister site of The Week). One cycle takes approximately 430,000 years and is largely affected by Venus and Jupiter. Mars has little to no effect on this cycle, originally leading scientists to believe that the planet did not have much pull on Earth’s climate. However, it turns out that Mars “punches above its weight,” said Stephen Kane, the study leader and a professor of planetary astrophysics at the University of California, Riverside, in the release. Subtracting Mars from the equation significantly affected two other climate cycles, one of them 10,000 years long and the other 2.3 million years long. “When you remove Mars, those cycles vanish,” Kane said. “And if you increase the mass of Mars, they get shorter and shorter because Mars is having a bigger effect.”

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Mars can actually trigger ice ages on Earth despite being millions of miles away

tomwt — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 22:13:43 +0000

Mars can actually trigger ice ages on Earth despite being millions of miles away tomwt Tue, 01/20/2026 - 14:13 More CNAS in the Media Jordan Strickler | ZME Science January 18, 2026

ZME SCIENCE - Mars is about half Earth’s size and roughly a tenth its mass — not really the sort of planet you’d expect to leave fingerprints on Earth’s climate history. Yet a new set of simulations by an international group of researchers suggests the Red Planet helps shape some of the slow, repeating orbital patterns like Earth’s ice ages and other long-term climate swings.

The work, published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific explores simple “what ifs?”: What happens to Earth’s Milankovitch cycles if you dial Mars’ mass down to nearly nothing? Likewise, how about if you crank it up far beyond its current weight?

Turning the Mars “knob”
Stephen Kane, a professor of planetary astrophysics at the University of California, Riverside and study author, said he had his doubts to begin with. Recent studies have tied deep-ocean sediment layers to Mars-linked cycles, implying that the planet’s gravitational nudges show up in Earth’s geologic record.

He just didn’t expect the weight of the impact.

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Mars has a massive impact on Earth’s climate, new study suggests

tomwt — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 19:38:31 +0000

Mars has a massive impact on Earth’s climate, new study suggests tomwt Fri, 01/16/2026 - 11:38 More CNAS in the Media Lydia Amazouz | Dailygalaxy.com January 16, 2026

DAILY GALAXY - Mars, long admired for its rusty hue and alien deserts, may play a far greater role in shaping life on Earth than once believed. A new study published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific reveals that Mars’ gravitational influence subtly but significantly affects Earth’s climate cycles, planetary tilt, and even the evolution of life.

A Subtle Force With Massive Impact
In a discovery that surprised even the researchers, the team found that Mars may be “punching above its weight,” influencing Earth’s long-term climate stability far more than its modest size suggests.

“I knew Mars had some effect on Earth, but I assumed it was tiny,” said Stephen Kane of the University of California, Riverside, in a statement. “I’d thought its gravitational influence would be too small to easily observe within Earth’s geologic history. I kind of set out to check my own assumptions.”

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Mars may help set the timing of Earth’s ice ages

tomwt — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 17:24:20 +0000

Mars may help set the timing of Earth’s ice ages tomwt Thu, 01/15/2026 - 09:24 More CNAS in the Media Jordan Joseph | Earth.com January 14, 2026

EARTH.COM - New simulations suggest Mars helps set a 2.4 million-year rhythm in Earth’s orbit that can steer the timing of ice-ages.

Scientists recently tested whether a small planet could leave a detectable trace in deep-time climate records.

Testing a planetary hunch
Computer runs allowed the experts to switch planets on and off, turning the solar system into a controlled test. The simulations were built at the University of California, Riverside (UC Riverside).

Stephen R. Kane, Ph.D., a professor of planetary astrophysics, started out doubtful and checked his own assumptions while modeling how planets tug each other.

“I knew Mars had some effect on Earth, but I assumed it was tiny,” said Kane.

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Without Mars, Earth’s ice-age rhythm would change, simulations show

tomwt — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 18:00:50 +0000

Without Mars, Earth’s ice-age rhythm would change, simulations show tomwt Wed, 01/14/2026 - 10:00 More CNAS in the Media John Anderer | Study Finds January 14, 2026

STUDYFINDS - Earth would certainly be different without its rusty red neighbor. No Mars in the night sky, no target for future human exploration. Now, however, scientists say this scenario would result in much bigger changes than simply depriving humanity of a nearby planet to study.

According to the research, this scenario would fundamentally alter our planet’s climate history. Computer simulations spanning 100 million years reveal that Mars, despite being half Earth’s size and 140 million miles away, influences the pacing of ice ages through long-term gravitational interactions.

Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, ran 22 different scenarios adjusting Mars’ mass from complete absence to ten times its current size. When they removed Mars entirely, one of Earth’s major climate rhythms disappeared.

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Without Mars, humans and animals could look entirely different. Scientist says the Red Planet shapes our Ice Ages

tomwt — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 16:12:58 +0000

Without Mars, humans and animals could look entirely different. Scientist says the Red Planet shapes our Ice Ages tomwt Tue, 01/13/2026 - 08:12 More CNAS in the Media Iain Todd | BBC Sky at Night Magazine January 13, 2026

BBC SKY AT NIGHT MAGAZINE - You might think that Earth's influence on your life is minimal at best.

Beyond often appearing like a bright red 'star' in the sky, what has Mars ever done for us?

Quite a lot, it turns out. In fact, Mars could play a huge role in shaping the tilt of our planet and influencing the length of its Ice Ages.

Without Mars, the story of evolution on planet Earth might have played out rather differently.

Humans and animals might not exist, or might have evolved to look entirely different.

Exploring Mars's effect on Earth
Mars is about half the size of Earth and about one tenth its mass. That makes it a small, relatively light planet, in the grand scheme of things.

But a new study suggests that, as Mars orbits the Sun, it tugs on planet Earth, affecting our own orbit around the Sun and shaping our geological history.

Mars could even be shaping the cycles that drive long-term climate patterns on Earth, including Ice Ages.

Stephen Kane, professor of planetary astrophysics at the University of California Riverside, USA, decided to look at studies showing how Earth’s ancient climate patterns are influenced by gravitational nudges from Mars.

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Scientists think a crumbling supercontinent may have kickstarted life on Earth

tomwt — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 19:12:13 +0000

Scientists think a crumbling supercontinent may have kickstarted life on Earth tomwt Mon, 11/17/2025 - 11:12 More CNAS in the Media Darren Orf | Popular Mechanics November 13, 2025

POPULAR MECHANICS - For the past three decades, scientists have been bad-mouthing a sizable chunk of Earth’s history (roughly 1.8 billion years ago to 800 million years ago) by giving it nicknames like the “Barren Billion,” the “Boring Billion,” or the Earth’s “Middle Ages.” At first glance, the monikers may be warranted—compared to more dynamic eons in Earth’s history, this “boring” stretch (which includes the Statherian, Mesoproterozoic, and early Tonian periods) is characterized by relatively stable tectonics, an invariable climate, and generally uneventful progress in biological evolution.

But within the past decade, studies have been challenging this dull perception.

“For a long time, the boring billion was commonly thought to be remarkably unremarkable,” Timothy Lyons, a geochemist at the University of California Riverside, told Science News in 2015. “But it’s a critical chapter in the history of life on Earth, and there are basic questions we don’t understand.”

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Timothy Lyons

Climate change could heat the Earth right into a new ice age

tomwt — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 18:57:23 +0000

Climate change could heat the Earth right into a new ice age tomwt Mon, 11/17/2025 - 10:57 More CNAS in the Media Darren Orf | Popular Mechanics November 14, 2025

POPULAR MECHANICS - Like all of us, the Earth goes through phases. Over the course of its existence, the planet’s climactic processes have relied on certain mechanisms to regulate its temperature—mechanisms that can have profound impacts on the surface of the planet and, in turn, the life that inhabits that surface. During the Jurassic period, for example, the Earth was so warm that Antarctica was home to temperate rainforests. Rewind the evolutionary clock a couple hundred million years to the Cryogenian (720 to 635 million years ago), and Earth was essentially a giant snowball—an example of when Earth’s natural regulatory systems went a bit haywire.

Today, the Earth is experiencing a warming period unlike any other. The Jurassic, which was warm due to high levels of atmospheric carbon, reached its sweltering temperatures gradually, whereas anthropogenic climate change has caused much more rapid shifts—so rapid, in fact, that certain climactic changes have been discernible even within the average human lifespan.

...

“At the end of the day, does it really matter much if the start of the next ice age is 50, 100, or 200 thousand years into the future?” Andy Ridgwell, Professor of Geology at UC Riverside, said in a press statement. “We need to focus now on limiting ongoing warming. That the Earth will naturally cool back down is not going to happen fast enough to help us out.”

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Andy Ridgwell