1.16  Earth's CO2 Sinks

The CO2 emissions absorbed by Land, Ocean and Atmosphere, and future predictions

The cumulative human activity caused CO2 emissions taken up by the land and ocean sinks under the five illustrative scenarios (SSP1-1.9, SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5) are simulated from Year 1850 to 2100 by CMIP6 climate models. Land and ocean carbon sinks respond to past, current and future emissions, therefore cumulative sinks from Year 1850 to 2100 are presented here. During the historical period (1850-2019) the observed land and ocean sink took up 1,430 GtCO2 (59% of the CO2 emissions).

The bar chart illustrates the projected amount of cumulative human activity caused CO2 emissions (GtCO2) between the Year 1850 and 2100 remaining in the atmosphere (grey part) and taken up by the land and ocean (coloured part) in the year 2100. 

The doughnut chart illustrates the proportion of the cumulative human activity caused CO2 emissions taken up by the land and ocean sinks and remaining in the atmosphere in the year 2100 with the xx% values indicating the combined proportion of land and ocean sinks in the year 2100.

Reference: IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf – 9 Aug 2021 – page 6,9

Figure SPM.10: Near-linear relationship between cumulative CO2 emissions and the increase in global surface temperature.