Previous estimates of the partial atmospheric lifetime of CH3Br with respect to degradation in the ocean have not fully accounted for co-variation of sea-surface and boundary layer properties. Here we substantially reduce uncertainty in this calculation by using a coupled, ocean-atmosphere box model and a tightly gridded data set of oceanic and atmospheric properties. The best estimate of the partial atmospheric lifetime of CH3Br with respect to the ocean is 2.7 y with a possible range, due mainly to the choice of computational procedures for critical terms, of 2.4 to 6.5 y. This range is about one-third of that estimated previously. The total atmospheric lifetime, based upon oceanic, atmospheric, and proposed soil losses with all of their uncertainties, is 0.8 (0.6 to 1.4) y. Only 28% of this total uncertainty is attributable to the uncertainty in oceanic loss. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996