The point is that the odds of human activity being responsible for filling the sink--assuming this is so--is pretty low. I don't think the oceans are operating on that thin of a margin. I found other things in the paper a bit of a reach too, like blaming the ozone hole for the wind changes.

I think a great number of things being observed closely nowadays may be part of natural patterns and cycles that have gone unobserved until now, either because of a long time frame, or because the environment wasn't being microscopically examined to the extent it currently is.

In other words, scientists are now watching Gaia make sausage. It's going to take some getting used to.

The important thing to remember is that the Earth has survived environmental excursions and influences far in excess of what we're seeing now, and it's still here.