Open AccessObservations of planetary heating since the 1980s from multiple independent datasets
Author(s) -
Lesley C. Allison,
Matthew D. Palmer,
Richard P. Allan,
Leon Hermanson,
Chunlei Liu,
Doug Smith
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
environmental research communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2515-7620
DOI - 10.1088/2515-7620/abbb39
Subject(s) - climatology , sea surface temperature , ocean heat content , environmental science , global temperature , climate model , climate change , atmospheric sciences , geology , global warming , oceanography
Time series of global mean surface temperature are widely used to measure the rate of climate change that results from Earth’s energy imbalance. However, studies based on climate model simulations suggest that on annual-to-decadal timescales global ocean heat content is a more reliable indicator. Here we examine the observational evidence for this, drawing together multiple datasets that span the past ∼30 years. This observational analysis strongly supports the model-based finding that global ocean heat content and sea level are more reliable than surface temperature for monitoring Earth’s energy accumulation on these timescales. Global ocean temperature anomalies in the 0–100 m and 100–250 m layers are negatively correlated (r = −0.36), primarily explained by the influence of the Tropical Pacific, and a clearer heating signal is revealed by integrating over deeper ocean layers. The striking agreement between multiple independent datasets represents unequivocal evidence of ongoing planetary heating.