Unabated Global Ocean Warming Revealed by Ocean Heat Content from Remote Sensing Reconstruction

Author(s)Su, Hua
Author(s)Wei, Yanan
Author(s)Lu, Wenfang
Author(s)Yan, Xiao-Hai
Author(s)Zhang, Hongsheng
Date Accessioned2023-03-30T20:51:44Z
Date Available2023-03-30T20:51:44Z
Publication Date2023-01-17
DescriptionThis article was originally published in Remote Sensing. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15030566
AbstractAs the most relevant indicator of global warming, the ocean heat content (OHC) change is tightly linked to the Earth’s energy imbalance. Therefore, it is vital to study the OHC and heat absorption and redistribution. Here we analyzed the characteristics of global OHC variations based on a previously reconstructed OHC dataset (named OPEN) with four other gridded OHC datasets from 1993 to 2021. Different from the other four datasets, the OPEN dataset directly obtains OHC through remote sensing, which is reliable and superior in OHC reconstruction, further verified by the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) radiation flux data. We quantitatively analyzed the changes in the upper 2000 m OHC of the oceans over the past three decades from a multisource and multilayer perspective. Meanwhile, we calculated the global ocean heat uptake to quantify and track the global ocean warming rate and combined it with the Oceanic Niño Index to analyze the global evolution of OHC associated with El Niño–Southern Oscillation variability. The results show that different datasets reveal a continuously increasing and non-decaying global ocean warming from multiple perspectives, with more heat being absorbed by the subsurface and deeper ocean over the past 29 years. The global OHC heating trend from 1993 to 2021 is 7.48 ± 0.17, 7.89 ± 0.1, 10.11 ± 0.16, 7.78 ± 0.17, and 12.8 ± 0.26 × 1022 J/decade according to OPEN, IAP, EN4, Ishii, and ORAS5, respectively, which shows that the trends of the OPEN, IAP, and Ishii datasets are generally consistent, while those of EN4 and ORAS5 datasets are much higher. In addition, the ocean warming characteristics revealed by different datasets are somewhat different. The OPEN OHC dataset from remote sensing reconstruction shows a unique remote sensing mapping advantage, presenting a distinctive warming pattern in the East Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, the OPEN dataset had the largest statistically significant area, with 85.6% of the ocean covered by significant positive trends. The significant and continuous increase in global ocean warming over the past three decades, revealed from remote sensing reconstruction, can provide an important reference for projecting ocean warming in the context of global climate change toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
SponsorThis research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41971384), the Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of Fujian Province of China (2021J06014), the National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFA0606702) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91858202).
CitationSu, Hua, Yanan Wei, Wenfang Lu, Xiao-Hai Yan, and Hongsheng Zhang. 2023. "Unabated Global Ocean Warming Revealed by Ocean Heat Content from Remote Sensing Reconstruction" Remote Sensing 15, no. 3: 566. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15030566
ISSN2072-4292
URLhttps://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/32605
Languageen_US
PublisherRemote Sensing
KeywordsOcean Heat Content (OHC)
Keywordsglobal ocean warming
Keywordsremote sensing reconstruction
KeywordsOcean Heat Uptake (OHU)
KeywordsENSO
Keywordsclimate action
TitleUnabated Global Ocean Warming Revealed by Ocean Heat Content from Remote Sensing Reconstruction
TypeArticle
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