Soils will likely become warmer in the future, and this can increase the release of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere. As microbes can take up soil CO₂ and prevent further escape into the atmosphere, this study compares the rate of uptake and release of CO₂ at two different temperatures. With warming, the rate of CO₂ uptake increases less than the rate of release, indicating that the capacity to modulate soil CO₂ release into the atmosphere will decrease under future warming.