There are two ultra long-term / super slow carbon cycles by which the planet takes carbon out of atmospheric carbon dioxide.


One is land based and the other is ocean based.


They are both ultra slow processes happening over thousands to hundreds of thousands of years. 


They both operate by dead organisms literally sinking and being compressed into liquid or sold matter.


The land sink forms what we call fossil fuels in the depths of the soil and rock. 
The same sort of thing happens deep below the ocean floor where dead marine organisms form limestone and dolomite rock which in the course of ages of time has formed rock on land.


​Constant warming and acidification of the oceans by constant emission of carbon dioxide is already having a profound effect on ocean chemistry and marine life.


If the pouring out of carbon emissions continues the effect on the oceans will be catastrophic to life both in the oceans and on land. 

As it is shell making and bearing marine organisms that stars the long process that sinks carbon in the ocean sediment acidification that impairs this capacity is another positive feedback that will operate over many thousands of years.   


The oceans are the largest, most important intrinsic part of the global climate system.


The World Ocean is in fact the ultimate control of of the planet's climate.



There are three damaging effect that CO2 emissions has on the oceans


o Ocean heating

o cean acidification 

o Ocean deoxygenation 



Ocean heating

Carbon dioxide emissions affects the oceans in big ways.

First it causes ocean heating (as do the other GHGs). CO2 emissions casue the most 

Over 90% of all GHG emissions added heat goes to the oceans

Ocean heating is record high and accelerating


Ocean acidification
In addition, and independent of global warming, CO2 emissions cause 100%  ocean acdification
Even if global warming did not exist we would still have to stop carbon emissions to stop the oceans acidifying
As it is if ocean acidification continues it will feed back to the climate system, further accelerating the rate of global warming and climate change. 
Ocean acidification is record high and accelerating

Ocean deoxygenation

Ocean heating leads to ocean deoxygenation
This is open ocean deep deoxygenation
Ocean deoxygenation is record high and accelerating

If ocean heating, acidification and deoxygenation continue- the ocean ecosystem will eventually collapse and most marine life die.
The ocean over time would degrade into a vast decaying soup that would poison the air leading to an ecological collapse on land. 

The ocean carbon sink


The oceans take up 25-30% of industrial age CO2 emissions- referred to by the science as the ocean carbon sink.


Ocean carbon store

It is actually more of carbon store than sink. It has long been long that the ocean sink efficiency will decline resulting in more CO2 staying in the atmosphere and further increasing the rayte of atmospheric CO2 increase. Meanwhile  the absorption of CO2 by the oceans is causing increasing ocean acidification.  


The ocean carbon sink starts with minute green plants- the ocean phytoplankton.


phytoplankton take up about half of the total to carbon taken up by the planet's green plants.



The carbon captured by the phytoplankton is incorporated into shell bearing marine organisms that sinking to the ocean bottom are incorporated into ocean sediments. Over thousands to millions years this becomes solid carbon as limestone or dolomite. This process of actually sinking carbon on apermant basis is by the long or slow carbon cycle. 

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The ultra long term slow ocean carbon cycle that sinks carbon from the atmosphere  and is the ultimate control of the climate. 

Oceans

It took a long time for the oceans to be seriously included in the climate science, and the oceans are still not adequately included. Ocean are not considered in mitigation calculations.


The ocean take up over 90% of the added GHG heat and 30% of the CO2 emissions. This being regarded as a benefit

because other-wise global warming would be way hotter. 


However for the health of the oceans and for future generations these are harms not helps, as over time the. heat and CO2 ocean absorbing become less efficient, with higher heating and faster atmospheric CO2 increase. 

CO2 molecule