https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-ocean-heat-content https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-ocean-heat-content
Change over time
More than 90 percent of the warming that has happened on Earth over the past 50 years has occurred in the ocean. Recent studies estimate that warming of the upper oceans accounts for about 63 percent of the total increase in the amount of stored heat in the climate system from 1971 to 2010, and warming from 700 meters down to the ocean floor adds about another 30 percent.
graph of multiple time series of heat stored in different layers of the ocean from 1993-2019
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Annual ocean heat content compared to the 1993 average from 1993-2019, based on multiple data sets: surface to depths of 700 meters (2,300 feet) in shades of red, orange, and yellow; from 700-2,000 meters (6,650 feet) in shades of green and blue; and below 6,650 feet (2,000 meters) as a gray wedge. Graph by NOAA Climate.gov, adapted from Figure 3.6 in State of the Climate in 2019. See original figure for details about data sources and uncertainty.
Less than a watt per square meter might seem like a small change, but multiplied by the surface area of the ocean (more than 360 million square kilometers), that translates into an enormous global energy imbalance. It means that while the atmosphere has been spared from the full extent of global warming for now, heat already stored in the ocean will eventually be released, committing Earth to additional warming in the future.
Change over time
More than 90 percent of the warming that has happened on Earth over the past 50 years has occurred in the ocean. Recent studies estimate that warming of the upper oceans accounts for about 63 percent of the total increase in the amount of stored heat in the climate system from 1971 to 2010, and warming from 700 meters down to the ocean floor adds about another 30 percent.
graph of multiple time series of heat stored in different layers of the ocean from 1993-2019
Annual ocean heat content compared to the 1993 average from 1993-2019, based on multiple data sets: surface to depths of 700 meters (2,300 feet) in shades of red, orange, and yellow; from 700-2,000 meters (6,650 feet) in shades of green and blue; and below 6,650 feet (2,000 meters) as a gray wedge. Graph by NOAA Climate.gov, adapted from Figure 3.6 in State of the Climate in 2019. See original figure for details about data sources and uncertainty.
Less than a watt per square meter might seem like a small change, but multiplied by the surface area of the ocean (more than 360 million square kilometers), that translates into an enormous global energy imbalance. It means that while the atmosphere has been spared from the full extent of global warming for now, heat already stored in the ocean will eventually be released, committing Earth to additional warming in the future.
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