How will natural and human controls on the atmospheric CO2 concentration operate under the influence of changing climate and changing society in the next 100 years?

We can budget the sources and sinks for carbon for the past 30 years, with increasing confidence over time (Global Carbon Project, 2009). However, we do not have a solid understanding of the mechanisms responsible for variability and change in the natural sinks; nor for potentially dramatic releases of CO2 from permafrost or methane clathrates. We have even less understanding of the societal controls on the CO2 source (beyond a basic need for energy), and thus we do not have a good basis to predict or to control emissions.

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