The global terrestrial carbon cycle model CARAIB (CARbon Assimilation In the Biosphere) is used to study the response of the terrestrial ecosystems to the large scale climate variations over the period 1980-1993. The global net carbon exchange flux with the atmosphere is calculated and compared with the terrestrial contribution derived from the deconvolution of the atmospheric CO2 and Δ13C measurements. A fairly large CO2 biospheric source is predicted during the strong El Ni¿o events of 1982-83 and 1986-87 as a consequence of the induced global warming. The direct and indirect temperature controls of the primary production and respiration dominate the CO2 anomaly. An analysis of the relative contribution by latitudinal bands and ecosystems shows that low-latitude vegetation dominates the variability at the El Ni¿o time scale. In savannas, the model indicates that the interannual changes result, to a large extent, from the control of soil water content on gross primary production (GPP). In the tropical rain forests, both respiration and GPP contribute to the response of the net biospheric flux. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union