Nature Communications · 4 August 2026 · From issue 16
Life faced more stress exactly when Earth's climate switched between five stable long term states.
Ivan Sudakow, Corinne Myers et al., Transitions between persistent climate-carbon regimes coincide with elevated Phanerozoic biosphere vulnerability, Nature Communications.
Earth's climate and carbon cycle have settled into five long lasting stable states over the last 500 million years. Scientists tracked these states using chemical signals stored in ancient rocks. Life on Earth showed more stress right when the planet shifted from one stable state to another. This pattern held up even after accounting for slower background changes in climate.
The number of long lasting stable climate modes found across Earth's deep history.
Ancient rock data only, shows a pattern, not direct proof of cause.
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