If all the carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuel burning were to stay in the atmosphere, its rate of accumulation in the atmosphere would be two-and-a-half times faster than it actually is, and climate would change two-and-a-half times faster. Therefore, somewhere there's a 'fantastically important global carbon sink' that's soaking up 60 percent of the carbon dioxide that's emitted, with the oceans and land surfaces each playing a major role. |