Crucial uncertainties in predicting biological control of DMS emission

Abstract

Environmental context. The CLAW hypothesis, published in Nature in 1987, highlighted the important potential role in climate regulation of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) production in the oceans. Since the hypothesis was presented, it has become increasingly apparent that a complex network of biological and physicochemical processes control DMS emissions from the oceans. The present essay discusses several of the crucial biological controls on DMS production that remain major uncertainties in our ability to decipher whether DMS cycling could contribute to the regulation of a warming climate.