A warm trend in the ocean resulting from the "greenhouse effect" could result in a release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The ocean is a vast reservoir of carbon; there is about 30 times as much carbon dissolved in the oceans as occurs in the atmosphere and living matter combined. It is impossible to determine the portion of carbon dioxide released by fossil fuel burning that has remained in the atmosphere and that has been released or absorbed from the oceans. Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere