Articles | Volume 16, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-831-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-831-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
14 Feb 2019
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 14 Feb 2019
| 14 Feb 2019
Towards a more complete quantification of the global carbon cycle
Miko U. F. Kirschbaum
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Landcare Research – Manaaki Whenua, Private Bag 11052, Palmerston North 4442, New
Zealand
Guang Zeng
National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, Private Bag
14901, Wellington 6021, New Zealand
Fabiano Ximenes
Forest Science Unit, New South Wales
Department of Primary Industries, Locked Bag 5123, Parramatta, New South
Wales 2150, Australia
Donna L. Giltrap
Landcare Research – Manaaki Whenua, Private Bag 11052, Palmerston North 4442, New
Zealand
John R. Zeldis
National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research,
PO Box 8602, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
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- The Role of Glacier Erosion in Riverine Particulate Organic Carbon Export M. Behnke et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GB007721
- The dynamic carbon balance of New Zealand’s natural forests: Evidence from two decades of live above-ground biomass monitoring J. Dymond et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2026.123796
- Empirical estimates of regional carbon budgets imply reduced global soil heterotrophic respiration P. Ciais et al. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa145
- An improved method for isotopic and quantitative analysis of dissolved organic carbon in natural water samples Y. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2024.114
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- Vascular Plants Are Globally Significant Contributors to Marine Carbon Fluxes and Sinks S. Cragg et al. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-010318-095333
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- DIC fertilization of primary production in karst lake-reservoirs and its effects on carbon sequestration and mitigation of eutrophication Z. Liu https://doi.org/10.1360/TB-2022-0640
- Porewater dissolved inorganic carbon released due to artificial sediment scouring in the Yellow River X. Huang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2023.105557
- Changes in global terrestrial live biomass over the 21st century L. Xu et al. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe9829
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- Increasing Autochthonous Production in Inland Waters as a Contributor to the Missing Carbon Sink Z. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.620513
30 citations as recorded by crossref.
- The role of net ecosystem productivity and of inventories in climate change research: the need for “net ecosystem productivity with harvest”, NEPH E. Schulze et al. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-021-00294-z
- Stream respiration exceeds CO2 evasion in a low‐energy, oligotrophic tropical stream V. Solano et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12334
- Spatio-temporal variations in lateral and atmospheric carbon fluxes from the Danube Delta M. Maier et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1417-2021
- Disequilibrium of terrestrial ecosystem CO2 budget caused by disturbance-induced emissions and non-CO2 carbon export flows: a global model assessment A. Ito https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-685-2019
- High stability of autochthonous dissolved organic matter in karst aquatic ecosystems: Evidence from fluorescence F. Xia et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.118723
- Carbon fertilization of autochthonous production in karst surface waters and its role in carbon reduction and eutrophication mitigation—a nature-based solution (NbS) M. Shao et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgeoc.2025.1622714
- What do we know about soil carbon destabilization? V. Bailey et al. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab2c11
- 基于热裂解/氧化示踪地震和暴雨对颗粒有机碳侵蚀的影响 远. 曲 et al. https://doi.org/10.1360/SSTe-2025-0411
- The Role of Glacier Erosion in Riverine Particulate Organic Carbon Export M. Behnke et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GB007721
- The dynamic carbon balance of New Zealand’s natural forests: Evidence from two decades of live above-ground biomass monitoring J. Dymond et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2026.123796
- Empirical estimates of regional carbon budgets imply reduced global soil heterotrophic respiration P. Ciais et al. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa145
- An improved method for isotopic and quantitative analysis of dissolved organic carbon in natural water samples Y. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2024.114
- Attributes of karst lakes in sustaining net autotrophy and carbon sink effects Y. Han et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.132404
- Scaling carbon fluxes from eddy covariance sites to globe: synthesis and evaluation of the FLUXCOM approach M. Jung et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1343-2020
- The dispersal of fluvially discharged and marine, shelf-produced particulate organic matter in the northern Gulf of Mexico Y. Yedema et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-663-2023
- An assessment of cumulative CO2 efflux as proxy of organic matter turnover time in the soil priming effect: analysis using the lumped parameter approach T. Sengupta et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-024-05569-w
- Spatiotemporal variations of hydrochemistry in karst dammed rivers and carbon fertilization effect of biological carbon pump: A case study of Pingzhai Reservoir and Lake Hongfeng in Guizhou Province H. Cuihong et al. https://doi.org/10.18307/2020.0610
- Vascular Plants Are Globally Significant Contributors to Marine Carbon Fluxes and Sinks S. Cragg et al. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-010318-095333
- Machine learning-based simulation of groundwater DIC distribution and source apportionment Y. Ji et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-026-03339-w
- Global maps of twenty-first century forest carbon fluxes N. Harris et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-00976-6
- Carbon emissions from inland waters may be underestimated: Evidence from European river networks fragmented by drying N. López‐Rojo et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10408
- Estimating fossil carbon contributions from chemicals and microplastics in Sweden's urban wastewater systems: A model-based approach E. Reppas-Chrysovitsinos et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e37665
- Microplastics and Their Degradation Products in Surface Waters: A Missing Piece of the Global Carbon Cycle Puzzle J. Dees et al. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.0c00205
- DIC fertilization of primary production in karst lake-reservoirs and its effects on carbon sequestration and mitigation of eutrophication Z. Liu https://doi.org/10.1360/TB-2022-0640
- Porewater dissolved inorganic carbon released due to artificial sediment scouring in the Yellow River X. Huang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2023.105557
- Changes in global terrestrial live biomass over the 21st century L. Xu et al. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe9829
- Net landscape carbon balance of a tropical savanna: Relative importance of fire and aquatic export in offsetting terrestrial production C. Duvert et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15287
- Is tree planting an effective strategy for climate change mitigation? M. Kirschbaum et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168479
- Tracing the influence of earthquakes and storms on the erosion of particulate organic carbon based on ramped pyrolysis/oxidation Y. Qu et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-025-1966-3
- Increasing Autochthonous Production in Inland Waters as a Contributor to the Missing Carbon Sink Z. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.620513
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 01 Sep 2026
Short summary
Globally, C is added to the atmosphere from fossil fuels and deforestation, balanced by ocean uptake and atmospheric increase. The difference (residual sink) is equated to plant uptake. But this omits cement carbonation; transport to oceans by dust; riverine organic C and volatile organics; and increased C in plastic, bitumen, wood, landfills, and lakes. Their inclusion reduces the residual sink from 3.6 to 2.1 GtC yr-1 and thus the inferred ability of the biosphere to alter human C emissions.
Globally, C is added to the atmosphere from fossil fuels and deforestation, balanced by ocean...
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