Rivers, as a conduit linking the carbon pools between land and ocean, are considered to be the most important carriers of carbon emissions from inland water bodies and play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. The study of the significant temporal heterogeneity of carbon dioxide (CO₂) degassing across the global river water-gas interface not only contributes to a deeper understanding of its carbon cycle processes and mechanisms, but also provides scientific support for the accurate assessment of carbon fluxes and the refinement of carbon cycle models. Here, we reviewed systematically the relevant researches in China and abroad and summarized the current dynamics of CO₂ degassing fluxes in rivers at diurnal, seasonal and multi-year scales and its influencing factors. Then, a certain periodicity of diurnal and seasonal variations was demonstrated. In addition, we discussed the temporal differences of CO₂ degassing fluxes at different spatial scales. We believed that the lack of high resolution and long-term continuous direct measurements of river CO₂ partial pressure and CO₂ degassing coefficients limited the periodicity of river CO₂ degassing and its relationship with each other, making it still difficult to quantify and predict the impact of climate change and human activities on the temporal dynamics of river CO₂ degassing. Finally, we prospected the emphasis of future research according to the current problems, which provided new ideas and directions for the study of global river water-air interface carbon cycle processes, mechanisms and modelling, as well as more accurate assessment and prediction of future trends in river carbon emissions.