Contact: Katy Human
katy.g.human@noaa.gov
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NOAA Headquarters

Carbon Budget

Caption: As carbon emissions by human activities have increased (purple), some carbon has stayed in the atmosphere (red) and some has been absorbed by natural “sinks” on land and in the oceans (blue). Natural sinks, including land ecosystems and the oceans, remove about half of the carbon emitted by human activities back out of the atmosphere. Note: The graph depicts carbon accumulation, which is proportional to carbon dioxide accumulation.

Credit: NOAA illustration

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Related news release: Earth's oceans and ecosystems still absorbing about half the greenhouse gases emitted by people