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Article: Carbon dioxide: where does it all go?
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- August 26, 1989
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Carbon Dioxide: Where Does It All Go?
Scientists studying carbon dioxide have run into arithmetic problem. A research team reports that the world's oceans do not absorb nearly as much of this greenhouse gas each year as previous work has suggested. Though they can't agree on whether to call it good or bad news, experts say it points out an unnerving ignorance about carbon dioxide.
"We've been overconfident for a long time about our knowledge of the carbon cycle. we've held on to the idea that the oceans were absorbing roughly 40 percent of the [carbon dioxide from] fossilfuel combustion. Now we really think that's wrong," says Pieter P. Tans, an ...