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Robust warming of the global upper ocean

Author

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  • John M. Lyman

    (Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
    NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington 98115-6349, USA)

  • Simon A. Good

    (Met Office Hadley Centre)

  • Viktor V. Gouretski

    (KlimaCampus, University of Hamburg, Grindelberg 5, 20144 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Masayoshi Ishii

    (Meteorological Research Institute, 1-1 Nagamine, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0052, Japan
    Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 3173-25 Showa-machi, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236-0001, Japan)

  • Gregory C. Johnson

    (NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington 98115-6349, USA)

  • Matthew D. Palmer

    (Met Office Hadley Centre)

  • Doug M. Smith

    (Met Office Hadley Centre)

  • Josh K. Willis

    (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, USA)

Abstract

Warming in the oceans The upper ocean acts as a giant heat sink and has absorbed the majority of excess energy generated by anthropogenic greenhouse gasses. This makes ocean heat content, potentially, a key indicator of climate change. But to be useful for evaluating the global energy balance and as a constraint on climate models, the measurement uncertainties of such a key indicator need to be well understood. At present the magnitude of the oceanic heat uptake is highly uncertain, with patterns of inter-annual variability in particular differing among estimates. In a major international collaboration, Lyman et al. compare the available upper-ocean heat content anomaly curves and examine the sources of uncertainly attached to them — including the difficulties in correcting bias in expendable bathythermograph data. They find that, uncertainties notwithstanding, there is clear and robust evidence for a warming trend of 0.64 watts per square metre between 1993 and 2008.

Suggested Citation

  • John M. Lyman & Simon A. Good & Viktor V. Gouretski & Masayoshi Ishii & Gregory C. Johnson & Matthew D. Palmer & Doug M. Smith & Josh K. Willis, 2010. "Robust warming of the global upper ocean," Nature, Nature, vol. 465(7296), pages 334-337, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:465:y:2010:i:7296:d:10.1038_nature09043
    DOI: 10.1038/nature09043
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. John Abraham & John Gorman & Franco Reseghetti & Kevin Trenberth & W. J. Minkowycz, 2011. "A New Method of Calculating Ocean Temperatures Using Expendable Bathythermographs," Energy and Environment Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 1(1), pages 1-2, December.
    2. Ruiz, Javier & Prieto, Laura & Astorga, Diana, 2012. "A model for temperature control of jellyfish (Cotylorhiza tuberculata) outbreaks: A causal analysis in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 233(C), pages 59-69.
    3. Guttorp Peter, 2012. "Climate Statistics and Public Policy," Statistics, Politics and Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Malone, Thomas C. & DiGiacomo, Paul M. & Gonçalves, Emanuel & Knap, Anthony H. & Talaue-McManus, Liana & de Mora, Stephen, 2014. "A global ocean observing system framework for sustainable development," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 262-272.
    5. Diego Macias & Adolf Stips & Elisa Garcia-Gorriz, 2014. "Application of the Singular Spectrum Analysis Technique to Study the Recent Hiatus on the Global Surface Temperature Record," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(9), pages 1-7, September.
    6. Kai Yin & Sudong Xu & Quan Zhao & Nini Zhang & Mengqi Li, 2021. "Effects of sea surface warming and sea-level rise on tropical cyclone and inundation modeling at Shanghai coast," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 109(1), pages 755-784, October.
    7. Raphael Calel & David Stainforth & Simon Dietz, 2015. "Tall tales and fat tails: the science and economics of extreme warming," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 127-141, September.
    8. M. Salinger, 2013. "A brief introduction to the issue of climate and marine fisheries," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 23-35, July.

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