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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 33, L18604, doi:10.1029/2006GL027033, 2006

Recent cooling of the upper ocean

John M. Lyman

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA, Seattle, Washington, USA

Josh K. Willis

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA

Gregory C. Johnson

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA, Seattle, Washington, USA

Abstract

We observe a net loss of 3.2 (±1.1) × 10²² J of heat from the upper ocean between 2003 and 2005. Using a broad array of in situ ocean measurements, we present annual estimates of global upper-ocean heat content anomaly from 1993 through 2005. Including the recent downturn, the average warming rate for the entire 13-year period is 0.33 ± 0.23 W/m² (of the Earth's total surface area). A new estimate of sampling error in the heat content record suggests that both the recent and previous global cooling events are significant and unlikely to be artifacts of inadequate ocean sampling.

Received 26 May 2006; accepted 11 August 2006; published 20 September 2006.

Index Terms: 4215 Oceanography: General: Climate and interannual variability (1616, 1635, 3305, 3309, 4513); 4513 Oceanography: Physical: Decadal ocean variability (1616, 1635, 3305, 4215); 1635 Global Change: Oceans (1616, 3305, 4215, 4513); 4262 Oceanography: General: Ocean observing systems.

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Citation: Lyman, J. M., J. K. Willis, and G. C. Johnson (2006), Recent cooling of the upper ocean, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L18604, doi:10.1029/2006GL027033.

Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.