"People later thought that Arrhenius's prediction that atmospheric carbon would increase was wrong, because they thought that oceans would serve as great carbon sinks. It would be interesting to look into whether they had good reasons for thinking this at the time."
The oceans contain about 50× as much CO2 as the atmosphere, and they're estimated to be removing CO2 from the atmosphere about 1/4 as fast as mankind is adding it. (The terrestrial biosphere is also estimated to be removing CO2 from the atmosphere, through "greening," about 1/4 as fast as mankind is adding it, so if anthropogenic CO2 emissions fell by more than half then atmospheric CO2 levels would be falling,... (read 540 more words →)
The oceans contain about 50× as much CO2 as the atmosphere, and they're estimated to be removing CO2 from the atmosphere about 1/4 as fast as mankind is adding it. (The terrestrial biosphere is also estimated to be removing CO2 from the atmosphere, through "greening," about 1/4 as fast as mankind is adding it, so if anthropogenic CO2 emissions fell by more than half then atmospheric CO2 levels would be falling,... (read 540 more words →)