• DOI:10.3402/TELLUSA.V9I1.9075
• Corpus ID: 737437

Carbon Dioxide Exchange Between Atmosphere and Ocean and the Question of an Increase of Atmospheric CO2 during the Past Decades

@article{Revelle1957CarbonDE,
  title={Carbon Dioxide Exchange Between Atmosphere and Ocean and the Question of an Increase of Atmospheric CO2 during the Past Decades},
  author={Roger R. Revelle and Hans Eduard Suess},
  journal={Tellus A},
  year={1957},
  volume={9},
  pages={18-27}
}

• R. Revelle, H. Suess
• Published 1 February 1957
• Environmental Science
• Tellus A

From a comparison of C 14 /C 12 and C 13 /C 12 ratios in wood and in marine material and from a slight decrease of the C 14 concentration in terrestrial plants over the past 50 years it can be concluded that the average lifetime of a CO 2 molecule in the atmosphere before it is dissolved into the sea is of the order of 10 years. This means that most of the CO 2 released by artificial fuel combustion since the beginning of the industrial revolution must have been absorbed by the oceans. The increase of atmospheric CO 2 from this cause is at present small but may become significant during future decades if industrial fuel combustion continues to rise exponentially. Present data on the total amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere, on the rates and mechanisms of exchange, and on possible fluctuations in terrestrial and marine organic carbon, are inadequate for accurate measurement of future changes in atmospheric CO 2 . An opportunity exists during the International Geophysical Year to obtain much of the necessary information. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1957.tb01849.x