Warming of the world ocean
2000
Levitus, S. | Antonov, J.I. | Boyer, T.P. | Stephens, C.
We quantify the interannual-to-decadal variability of the heat content (mean temperature) of the world ocean from the surface through 3000-meter depth for the period 1948 to 1998. The heat content of the world ocean increased by approximately 2 X 10(23) joules between the mid-1950s and mid-1990s, representing a volume mean warming of 0.06 degrees C. This corresponds to a warming rate of 0.3 watt per meter squared (per unit area of Earth's surface). Substantial changes in heat content occurred in the 300- to 1000-meter layers of each ocean and in depths greater than 1000 meters of the North Atlantic. The global volume mean temperature increase for the 0- to 300-meter layer was 0.31 degrees C, corresponding to an increase in heat content for this layer of approximately 10(23) joules between the mid-1950s and mid-1990s. The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans have undergone a net warming since the 1950s and the Indian Ocean has warmed since the mid-1960s, although the warming is not monotonic.
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