Temperature – a driver of the carbon cycle
Posted on July 16, 2025 by curryja
By Joachim Dengler
Are the natural carbon sinks failing?
For a long time, the discussion about the relation between temperature and CO2 concentration has been focused on the greenhouse effect and its possible feedback mechanisms, captured by the concept of sensitivity.
Here, I would like to shift the focus to the other side of the story: the possible causal influence of global sea surface temperature on the growth of CO2 concentration. Some readers may see this as a contradictory paradigm to the greenhouse effect; others may see it as one of the feedback mechanisms of the greenhouse effect.
The motivation for the investigations constituting the background paper of this post, “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Natural Carbon Sinks Through a Temperature-Dependent Model”, was published in the mainstream media like the Guardian, claiming that “Trees and land absorbed almost no CO2 last year. Is nature’s carbon sink failing?“. A closer examination of all the articles published on this topic revealed that they all refer to a single publication. The scientific basis and trigger for the discussion had been a preprint of this article: “Low latency carbon budget analysis reveals a large decline of the land carbon sink in 2023”.
https://judithcurry.com/2025/07/16/temperature-a-driver-of-the-carbon-cycle/
