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Life in the
ocean seems to go on almost in isolation from land
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Ocean plants
absorb about 103 billion tonnes of
carbon annually to produce food. They and ocean animals return much to the
water through decay. Some is diverted through shells and dissolved material
into the deep ocean.
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The small
absorption of some 2 billion tonnes annually from the atmosphere is thought
to be a simple result of maintaining equilibrium with the rising carbon
dioxide content of the atmosphere.
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The organic
material in the whales and fish we’ve hauled from the ocean does not even
show up on these figures.
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