The reporter learned on the 16th that, based on the global topsoil data set, scientific researchers from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other institutions have assessed the impact of climatic and non climatic factors on phosphorus release during global chemical weathering, and established a quantitative relationship between temperature and phosphorus weathering. Based on this, they found that climate warming will accelerate global phosphorus weathering. The relevant research results were published online in the journal Science Progress. Phosphorus is one of the fundamental elements that make up biological cells and is crucial for the growth and reproduction of marine organisms, determining the size of the marine biosphere. In ecosystems, phosphorus mainly comes from the dissolution of phosphates during terrestrial chemical weathering processes, also known as phosphorus weathering. Previous studies have shown that climate has a significant impact on phosphorus weathering. The quantitative relationship between various temperatures and phosphorus weathering has been applied in global models to understand the coupled biogeochemical cycles in Earth's history. "However, quantitative research on the relationship between climate and phosphorus weathering based on empirical data is still lacking," said Guo Licheng, co corresponding author of the paper and associate researcher of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In response to this scientific question, researchers have integrated 14322 environmental factors and major element data of global topsoil, established a quantitative relationship between temperature and phosphorus weathering, and constructed a new relationship between phosphorus weathering flux and global average temperature based on numerical models. The data integration results reveal that temperature regulates the migration of phosphorus elements in soil at the global scale, and when the temperature exceeds 12 ℃, the phosphorus content in soil significantly decreases. The increase in global phosphorus weathering flux caused by warming will lead to an increase in ocean productivity, rapid depletion of oxygen in water bodies, and massive burial of organic carbon in marine sediments, thereby triggering global cooling. Guo Licheng said that new research results also prove that enhanced phosphorus weathering is an important driving mechanism for oceanic hypoxia events. Guo Licheng stated that the conclusion from the accelerated global phosphorus weathering caused by warming can further speculate that the warming caused by human carbon emissions in the future is likely to lead to rapid loss of global soil phosphorus, which will endanger global agricultural production and marine ecosystems. (New Society)