Destination of Atmospheric Carbon

Oceans: 92 gigatonnes [(Gt) 1 gigatonne = 1x1012 kilograms] are recycled annually from the atmosphere to the oceans. This carbon is used for biosynthesis or remains dissolved in the water. If you compare you can see that each year we are adding 2 Gt more of carbon to our oceans than is being removed. This surplus of carbon is in the form of dissolved carbon dioxide or sediment and most of this circulates to deep ocean waters.

Land: 100 Gt are recycled annually from the atmosphere to the land. This is used for biosynthesis. If you compare this figure with the carbon from the land to the atmosphere you see that the atmosphere gains 7 Gt of carbon annually from this source. This is the same amount of carbon that is produced as a result of fossil fuel burning and deforestation.

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