Coral reefs are an interesting example, because as the earth warms and the oceans acidify, they don't grow, they die. Peat bogs are an even worse example - they actually release carbon and methane as the earth warms, rather than absorbing it. So, I'm not sanguine about these things counterbalancing our emissions.
Existing species and ecosystems are adapted to equilibrium conditions from before human changes. If changes are sudden and severe enough, entire ecosystems could start to crash catastrophically. I'm generally a believer in the resilience and adaptation of the biosphere, but there's no guarantee that things won't get worse before they get better. Nor is there any guarantee that we're going to like the results of adaptation.
The whole mess also takes a huge amount of time to sort out. Carbon will accumulate in the places it flows naturally to first - the air and the oceans. Other processes will slowly pull carbon out and sequester it, but not quickly. In the meantime (on a geological scale - hundreds or thousands of years) we'll have to live with the effects of increased CO2.
-Jester
Existing species and ecosystems are adapted to equilibrium conditions from before human changes. If changes are sudden and severe enough, entire ecosystems could start to crash catastrophically. I'm generally a believer in the resilience and adaptation of the biosphere, but there's no guarantee that things won't get worse before they get better. Nor is there any guarantee that we're going to like the results of adaptation.
The whole mess also takes a huge amount of time to sort out. Carbon will accumulate in the places it flows naturally to first - the air and the oceans. Other processes will slowly pull carbon out and sequester it, but not quickly. In the meantime (on a geological scale - hundreds or thousands of years) we'll have to live with the effects of increased CO2.
-Jester