Research
Atmospheric O2 reveals a strengthening ocean carbon sink and a stagnant net land sink since 1990
Science · By Eric J. Morgan, Yuming Jin, Elena Kozlova, Andrew J. Watson, Andrew C. Manning, Sönke Zaehle, Yasunori Tohjima, Xin Lan & Ralph F. Keeling ·
The Brief
- A study in Science uses atmospheric oxygen (O2) measurements to track carbon sinks.
- The study reports that the ocean carbon sink has strengthened since 1990.
- The study reports that the net land carbon sink has been stagnant since 1990.
Why it matters
Separating ocean and land carbon sinks helps science readers judge how much of human CO2 emissions the planet absorbs and how that is changing.
Who’s affected
- climate and carbon-cycle researchers
- earth system modelers
- #carbon sink
- #ocean
- #atmospheric oxygen
- #carbon cycle
- #climate
Science, Volume 394, Issue 6825 , Page 799-803, November 2026.
Timeline
Study published in Science (vol. 394, issue 6825, pp. 799-803)
science.org
Atmospheric O2 reveals a strengthening ocean carbon sink and a stagnant net land sink since 1990