The carbon cycle is closely linked to the climate system and is influenced by the growing human population and associated demands for resources, especially for fossil-fuel energy and land. The rate of change in atmospheric CO2 reflects the balance
between carbon emissions from human activities and the dynamics
of a number of terrestrial and ocean processes that remove
or emit CO2. The long-term evolution of this balance will
largely determine the speed and magnitude of human induced
climate change and the mitigation requirements to stabilize atmospheric CO2 concentrations at any given level.

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