CLAW hypothesis

The CLAW hypothesis proposes a negative feedback loop that operates between ocean ecosystems and the Earth's climate.

The CLAW hypothesis was originally proposed by Robert Jay Charlson, James Lovelock, Meinrat Andreae and Stephen G. Warren, and takes its acronym from the first letter of their surnames.

In turn, this leads to an increase in the concentration of its breakdown product, dimethyl sulfide (DMS), first in seawater, and then in the atmosphere.

This acts to increase cloud albedo, leading to greater reflection of incident sunlight, and a decrease in the forcing that initiated this chain of events.

[6] Other researchers have suggested that a CLAW-like mechanism may operate in the Earth's sulfur cycle without the requirement of an active biological component.

Schematic diagram of the CLAW hypothesis (Charlson et al. , 1987) [ 1 ]
Schematic diagram of the anti-CLAW hypothesis (Lovelock, 2006) [ 3 ]