![\"\"](\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/climatechronology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/575\/2016\/12\/cat_science-fuschia_helvneue.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Roger Revelle and Hans Suess of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography publish \u201cCarbon Dioxide Exchange Between Atmosphere and Ocean and the Question of an Increase of Atmospheric CO2<\/sub> during the Past Decades.\u201d From measuring carbon content in wood and marine material, the authors conclude that \u201cmost of the CO2<\/sub> released by artificial fuel combustion since the beginning of the industrial revolution must have been absorbed by the oceans. The increase in atmospheric CO2<\/sub> from this cause is at present small but may become significant during future decades if industrial fuel combustion continues to rise exponentially.\u201d The authors observe that previous estimates about the amount of warming that would be attributable to increased CO2<\/sub> releases have not taken into account feedback mechanisms that can enhance warming: \u201c\u2026 [A]mplifying or feedback processes may exist such that a slight change in the character of the back radiation might have a more pronounced effect. Possible examples are a decrease in the albedo [reflection of solar energy] of the earth due to melting of ice caps\u2026\u201d*<\/sup> The authors note that this emerging human impact on the planet is unprecedented: \u201cThus human beings are now carrying out a large scale geophysical experiment of a kind that could not have happened in the past \u2026 Within a few centuries we are returning to the atmosphere and oceans the concentrated organic carbon stored in sedimentary rocks over hundreds of millions of years. This experiment \u2026 may yield a far-reaching insight into the process determining weather and climate.\u201d*<\/sup><\/p>\n