University of Bristol - Old CO2 soaks

Research has challenged a key assumption on which carbon emission targets are based ahead of next month's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The findings of the University of Bristol study show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of carbon dioxide has remained almost constant since 1850. This suggests that terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans can absorb more CO2 than had been previously thought. The results run contrary to a significant body of recent research that predicts that Earth's capacity to absorb CO2 will diminish as carbon emissions rise.