On long timescales, the inventory of total dissolved inorganic carbon in the ocean is mainly driven by the increase in anthropogenic CO₂ emitted to the atmosphere due to human activities. On short timescales, however, the anthropogenic signal can be masked by the variability in natural inorganic carbon, shown in this study based on Irminger Sea cruise data from 1991 to 2015. In order to estimate oceanic carbon budgets, we suggest jointly assessing natural, anthropogenic and total carbon.