The atmosphere is the synthesizer, transformer, and communicator of exchanges at its boundaries with the land and oceans. These exchanges depend on and, in turn, alter the states of the atmosphere, land, and oceans themselves. To a large extent, the interactions between the carbon cycle and climate have mapped, and will map, the trajectory of the Earth system. My quest to understand climate dynamics and the global carbon cycle has been propelled by new puzzles that emerge from each of the investigations and has led me to study subdisciplines of Earth science beyond my formal training. This article sketches my trek and the lessons I have learned.

▪	About half the CO2 emitted from combustion of fossil fuels and from cement production has remained airborne. Where are the contemporary carbon sinks? To what degree will these sinks evolve with, and in turn accelerate, climate change itself?
▪	The pursuit of these questions has been propelled by the integration of in situ and satellite observations of the atmosphere, land, and oceans, as well as by advances in theory and coupled climate–carbon cycle modeling.
▪	The urgency of climate change demands new approaches to cross-check national emission statistics.

中文翻译：

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追求

大气是与陆地和海洋交界处的交流的合成器，变压器和通信器。这些交换取决于并进而改变大气，陆地和海洋本身的状态。在很大程度上，碳循环与气候之间的相互作用已绘制出并将会绘制出地球系统的轨迹。我对气候动态和全球碳循环的理解的追求是由每次调查中出现的新难题推动的，这使我学习了我的正规培训以外的地球科学子学科。本文概述了我的跋涉和所学到的教训。

▪	化石燃料燃烧和水泥生产所排放的CO 2约有一半仍是空气传播的。当代的碳汇在哪里？这些汇将在多大程度上随着气候变化本身而演变并进而加速发展？
▪	对这些问题的追求是通过对大气，陆地和海洋的原位和卫星观测的结合，以及理论上的进步和气候-碳循环模型的耦合推动的。
▪	气候变化的紧迫性要求采用新方法来交叉检查国家排放统计数据。