Question: how does mud contribute to climate change as well as many other effects that mud causes

Daniel Parsons answered on 10 Nov 2014:

Hello there,
One of the ways that mud is made by the breakdown of rocks called weathering. Weathering happens when rainwater, which is a very weak acid and contains some carbon in solution (called carbonic acid), slowly reacts with rocks on Earth’s surface. This produces clays and a range of other minerals and removes carbon from the atmosphere. This carbon and the muds can then get locked away in marine sediments at the bottom of the ocean. This is part of the carbon cycle which helps regulate the climate of the Earth.
For example, if carbon dioxide concentration increases in the atmosphere (like it is now due to Humans) the temperature goes up. This results in more weathering at a faster rate, which draws down carbon dioxide. The problem we have is that CO2 concentrations and temperature are both going up too fast for the weathering to catch up!