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Ocean heat content

The ocean heat content (OHC) has been increasing for decades as the ocean has been absorbing most of the excess heat resulting from greenhouse gas emissions from human activities.[1] The graph shows OHC calculated to a water depth of 700 and to 2000 meters.

Ocean heat content (OHC) or ocean heat uptake (OHU) is the energy absorbed and stored by oceans.[2] It is an important indicator of global warming.[3] Ocean heat content is calculated by measuring ocean temperature at many different locations and depths, and integrating the areal density of a change in enthalpic energy over an ocean basin or entire ocean.[4]

Between 1971 and 2018, a steady upward trend[5] in ocean heat content accounted for over 90% of Earth's excess energy from global warming.[6][7] Scientists estimate a 1961–2022 warming trend of 0.43 ± 0.08 W/m², accelerating at about 0.15 ± 0.04 W/m² per decade.[8] By 2020, about one third of the added energy had propagated to depths below 700 meters.[9][10] The five highest ocean heat observations to a depth of 2000 meters all occurred in the period 2020–2024.[5] The main driver of this increase has been human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.[11]: 1228 

Ocean water can absorb a lot of solar energy because water has far greater heat capacity than atmospheric gases.[9] As a result, the top few meters of the ocean contain more energy than the entire Earth's atmosphere.[12] Since before 1960, research vessels and stations have sampled sea surface temperatures and temperatures at greater depth all over the world. Since 2000, an expanding network of nearly 4000 Argo robotic floats has measured temperature anomalies, or the change in ocean heat content. With improving observation in recent decades, the heat content of the upper ocean has been analyzed to have increased at an accelerating rate.[13][14][15] The net rate of change in the top 2000 meters from 2003 to 2018 was +0.58±0.08 W/m2 (or annual mean energy gain of 9.3 zettajoules).[3]

Changes in ocean temperature greatly affect ecosystems in oceans and on land. For example, there are multiple impacts on coastal ecosystems and communities relying on their ecosystem services. Direct effects include variations in sea level and sea ice, changes to the intensity of the water cycle, and the migration of marine life.[16]

  1. ^ Top 700 meters: Lindsey, Rebecca; Dahlman, Luann (6 September 2023). "Climate Change: Ocean Heat Content". climate.gov. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. ● Top 2000 meters: "Ocean Warming / Latest Measurement: December 2022 / 345 (± 2) zettajoules since 1955". NASA.gov. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023.
  2. ^ US EPA (2016-06-27). "Climate Change Indicators: Ocean Heat". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
  3. ^ a b Cheng, Lijing; Foster, Grant; Hausfather, Zeke; Trenberth, Kevin E.; Abraham, John (2022). "Improved Quantification of the Rate of Ocean Warming". Journal of Climate. 35 (14): 4827–4840. Bibcode:2022JCli...35.4827C. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0895.1.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Assessing the Global Climate in 2024, published online January 2025, Retrieved on March 2, 2025 from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-climate-202413.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference EarthSysSciData_20200907 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chen-2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference NatureComms_20240124 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b LuAnn Dahlman and Rebecca Lindsey (2020-08-17). "Climate Change: Ocean Heat Content". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
  10. ^ "Study: Deep Ocean Waters Trapping Vast Store of Heat". Climate Central. 2016.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference AR6_WG1_Chapter92 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "Vital Signs of the Plant: Ocean Heat Content". NASA. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Li-2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Miniere-2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Storto-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ "Ocean warming : causes, scale, effects and consequences. And why it should matter to everyone. Executive summary" (PDF). International Union for Conservation of Nature. 2016.

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