Ocean Heating by Global Warming

L. David Roper
http://www.roperld.com/personal/roperldavid.htm
6 April, 2016

Introduction

The amount of heat stored in the ocean due to global warming is very important. Much more heat is stored in the ocean water than in the atmosphere. The dark ocean surface collects more heat than does the land surface, especially if the land is covered with snow or ice. The heat capacity of water is much larger than the heat capacity of soil.

The transfer of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere is slower than the accumulation of heat in the oceans. So, an imbalance exists which over time will go move toward balance between water and land. That is, even if humans quit putting global-warming-gases into the atmosphere, the atmospheric temperature would continue to increase as heat is transferred to it from the oceans.

Global Ocean Heat Content

Ocean heating causes ocean surface temperatures to rise:

Most of the heat is near the surface:

References

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L. David Roper interdisciplinary studies

L. David Roper, http://www.roperld.com/personal/roperldavid.htm