The illusion of balance in the history of the biosphere
Geerat J. Vermeij
Abstract:Earth's surface has been irreversibly altered by the activity of organisms, a process that has accelerated as the power of the biosphere (the rate at which life extracts and deploys energy) has increased over time. This trend is incompatible with the expectation that the inputs to Earth's surface of life's materials from the crust and mantle be matched by export from Earth's surface to long‐term reservoirs. Here, I suggest that the collective activity of organisms has always violated this balance. The biospher… Show more
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