World's ocean heat content steadily climbing

The rapid increase in human-induced, greenhouse gas emissions is trapping more and more of the Earth's heat close to the surface, instead of allowing it to radiate back out into space.

Most of this excess heat is being absorbed by the world's oceans, leading to a steady increase in global ocean heat content, especially since the 1990s.

Scientists now rely mostly on satellite data and Argo floats to get an accurate picture of global ocean temperatures.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), greater than 90 percent of the global warming that occurred between 1971-2010 occurred in the oceans.

The greatest rates of warming in the ocean have been off southeast Asia and the east coast of North America over the past quarter century. Colder freshwater from the melting of the Greenland Ice Cap may be contributing to some of the cooling in the far northern Atlantic.

This steady increase in global ocean heat content is promoting sea level rise via thermal expansion and the melting of ocean-terminating glaciers.

Warmer water in the subtropical regions is also leading to an increase in extreme tropical cyclones.

Eventually, all of this heat that is being stored in the world's oceans will be released into the atmosphere, further adding to the surface warming trend.