text: The combustion of fossil fuels, land-use changes, and the production of cement have led to a flux of CO to the atmosphere.  Presently, about one third (approximately 2 gigatons of carbon per year) of anthropogenic emissions of CO are believed to be entering the ocean.  The solubility pump is the primary mechanism driving this flux, with the consequence that anthropogenic CO is reaching the ocean interior via high latitude sites of deep water formation (particularly the North Atlantic).  Ultimately, most of the CO emitted by human activities will dissolve in the ocean, however the rate at which the ocean will take it up in the future is less certain.
  In a study of carbon cycle up to the end of the 21st century, Cox et al. (2000) predicted that the rate of CO uptake will begin to saturate at a maximum rate at 5 gigatons of carbon per year by 2100.  This was partially due to non-linearities in the seawater carbonate system, but also due to climate change.  Ocean warming decreases the solubility of CO in seawater, slowing the oceans response to emissions.  Warming also acts to increase ocean stratification, isolating the surface ocean from deeper waters.  Additionally, changes in the oceans thermohaline circulation (specifically slowing) may act to decrease transport of dissolved CO into the deep ocean.  However, the magnitude of these processes is still uncertain, preventing good long-term estimates of the fate of the solubility pump.
  While ocean absorption of anthropogenic CO from the atmosphere acts to decrease climate change, it causes ocean acidification which is believed will have negative consequences for marine ecosystems.