The article by Pierre Regnier et al. examines the lateral transport of carbon from land to the ocean, a process that has been largely overlooked in global carbon budget estimates. The authors highlight that human activities have significantly altered this natural carbon cycle, increasing the flux of carbon to inland waters by up to 1.0 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\) since pre-industrial times. This additional carbon input is primarily due to enhanced carbon export from soils, with most of it being emitted back to the atmosphere as CO\(_2\) (-0.4 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\)) or sequestered in sediments (-0.5 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\)). The terrestrial ecosystems currently store -0.9 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\) of carbon, which is in agreement with forest inventories but differs from previous estimates that ignored lateral carbon fluxes. The study emphasizes the importance of including lateral carbon fluxes in global carbon dioxide budgets, as human activities have modified the exchange of carbon and nutrients between land, atmosphere, freshwater bodies, coastal zones, and the open ocean. The authors provide contemporary estimates of carbon fluxes along the aquatic continuum, from inland waters to estuaries and the coastal ocean, and discuss the anthropogenic perturbations to these fluxes. They estimate that the total present-day flux from soils, bedrock, and sewage to aquatic systems is 2.5 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\), with an anthropogenic perturbation flux of 1.0 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\). This perturbation includes increased CO\(_2\) outgassing and carbon burial in freshwater and estuarine sediments. The implications of these findings are significant for global carbon budgets, terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling, and atmospheric inversions. The authors suggest that the terrestrial ecosystem CO\(_2\) sink is larger than previously estimated, but the net land anthropogenic CO\(_2\) uptake is only about 1.3 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\), while the ocean uptake is about 2.5 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\). The study calls for more robust data and a better understanding of the processes controlling CO\(_2\) outgassing and carbon sequestration in the land-ocean continuum to refine global carbon budgets and mitigate climate change.The article by Pierre Regnier et al. examines the lateral transport of carbon from land to the ocean, a process that has been largely overlooked in global carbon budget estimates. The authors highlight that human activities have significantly altered this natural carbon cycle, increasing the flux of carbon to inland waters by up to 1.0 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\) since pre-industrial times. This additional carbon input is primarily due to enhanced carbon export from soils, with most of it being emitted back to the atmosphere as CO\(_2\) (-0.4 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\)) or sequestered in sediments (-0.5 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\)). The terrestrial ecosystems currently store -0.9 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\) of carbon, which is in agreement with forest inventories but differs from previous estimates that ignored lateral carbon fluxes. The study emphasizes the importance of including lateral carbon fluxes in global carbon dioxide budgets, as human activities have modified the exchange of carbon and nutrients between land, atmosphere, freshwater bodies, coastal zones, and the open ocean. The authors provide contemporary estimates of carbon fluxes along the aquatic continuum, from inland waters to estuaries and the coastal ocean, and discuss the anthropogenic perturbations to these fluxes. They estimate that the total present-day flux from soils, bedrock, and sewage to aquatic systems is 2.5 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\), with an anthropogenic perturbation flux of 1.0 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\). This perturbation includes increased CO\(_2\) outgassing and carbon burial in freshwater and estuarine sediments. The implications of these findings are significant for global carbon budgets, terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling, and atmospheric inversions. The authors suggest that the terrestrial ecosystem CO\(_2\) sink is larger than previously estimated, but the net land anthropogenic CO\(_2\) uptake is only about 1.3 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\), while the ocean uptake is about 2.5 Pg C yr\(^{-1}\). The study calls for more robust data and a better understanding of the processes controlling CO\(_2\) outgassing and carbon sequestration in the land-ocean continuum to refine global carbon budgets and mitigate climate change.