Rising Temperatures Could Shut Down Plate Tectonics

Written by Fraser Cain

Venus is known as the Earth's twin, but a better name might be Earth's "evil twin" planet. Although Venus has a similar size and mass to Earth, it has a dramatically different surface and atmosphere. And one of the biggest differences is that fact that Earth has plate tectonics, and Venus doesn't. New research indicates that prolonged atmospheric heat might be able to shut down plate tectonics, and cause our planet's crust to be locked in place. Don't worry, this isn't something we'll have to worry about for a few hundred million years.

This research was done by scientists from the US, Canada and Australia, and published in this week's edition of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters. According to the researchers, large amounts of volcanic activity or increases in the Sun's luminosity could reach a tipping point, where the system of plate tectonics just shuts down.

Don't worry, this isn't an article about the dangers of global warming. The kind of temperatures we're talking about here are beyond anything scientists are expecting from human-induced climate change.

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