Depressed chemical weathering inhibited climate stabilization after the end-Permian biocrisis.

High-resolution lithium isotope records across the Permian–Triassic transition show notable decreases in global continental weatherability after the end-Permian mass extinction, linked to Early Triassic greenhouse persistence.

• Why it matters: The Permian–Triassic transition involved prolonged environmental instability and delayed recovery, but the extent to which continental weathering feedbacks regulated climate remained unconstrained.
• What they did: The study measured lithium isotope records from marine carbonates and terrestrial deposits through the transition and combined them with an Earth-system model to infer weatherability changes.
• The result: The diminished weathering response to volcanic CO2 emissions is associated with prolonged high atmospheric CO2 and global temperature in the Early Triassic, inhibiting contemporaneous ecosystem recoveries.