Ocean heat content

The improper expression Oceanic heat content (OHC) refers to the heat absorbed by the ocean, which is then stored as a form of internal energy or enthalpy (because, in fact, heat is not a function of state and thus cannot be stored as it is in any way). Oceanography and climatology are the science branches which study ocean heat content. Changes in the ocean heat content play an important role in the sea level rise, because of thermal expansion. It is with high confidence that ocean warming accounts for 90% of the energy accumulation from global warming between 1971 and 2010. About one third of that extra heat has been estimated to propagate to depth below 700 meters. Beyond the direct impact of thermal expansion, ocean warming contributes to increased rates of ice melt of glaciers in fjords of Greenland and ice sheets in Antarctica. Warmer Oceans are also responsible for coral bleaching. The improper expression Oceanic heat content (OHC) refers to the heat absorbed by the ocean, which is then stored as a form of internal energy or enthalpy (because, in fact, heat is not a function of state and thus cannot be stored as it is in any way). Oceanography and climatology are the science branches which study ocean heat content. Changes in the ocean heat content play an important role in the sea level rise, because of thermal expansion. It is with high confidence that ocean warming accounts for 90% of the energy accumulation from global warming between 1971 and 2010. About one third of that extra heat has been estimated to propagate to depth below 700 meters. Beyond the direct impact of thermal expansion, ocean warming contributes to increased rates of ice melt of glaciers in fjords of Greenland and ice sheets in Antarctica. Warmer Oceans are also responsible for coral bleaching. The areal density of ocean heat content between two depth levels is defined using a definite integral: H = ρ c p ∫ h 2 h 1 T ( z ) d z {displaystyle H= ho c_{p}int _{h2}^{h1}T(z)dz} where ρ {displaystyle ho } is seawater density, c p {displaystyle c_{p}} is the specific heat of sea water, h2 is the lower depth, h1 is the upper depth, and T ( z ) {displaystyle T(z)} is the temperature profile. In SI units, H {displaystyle H} has units of J·m−2. Integrating this density over an ocean basin, or entire ocean, gives the total heat content, as indicated in the figure to right. Thus, the total heat content is the product of the density, specific heat capacity, and the volume integral of temperature over the three-dimensional region of the ocean in question. Ocean heat content can be estimated using temperature measurements obtained by a Nansen bottle, an ARGO float, or ocean acoustic tomography. The World Ocean Database Project is the largest database for temperature profiles from all of the world’s oceans. The upper Ocean heat content in most North Atlantic regions is dominated by heat transport convergence (a location where ocean currents meet), without large changes to temperature and salinity relation. Several studies in recent years have found a multi-decadal oscillation increase in OHC of the deep and upper ocean regions and attribute the heat uptake to anthropogenic warming. Studies based on ARGO indicate that ocean surface winds, especially the subtropical trade winds in the Pacific Ocean, change ocean heat vertical distribution. This results in changes among ocean currents, and an increase of the subtropical overturning, which is also related to the El Niño and La Niña phenomenon. Depending on stochastic natural variability fluctuations, during La Niña years around 30% more heat from the upper ocean layer is transported into the deeper ocean.Model studies indicate that ocean currents transport more heat into deeper layers during La Niña years, following changes in wind circulation. Years with increased ocean heat uptake have been associated with negative phases of the interdecadal Pacific oscillation (IPO). This is of particular interest to climate scientists who use the data to estimate the ocean heat uptake. A study in 2015 concluded that ocean heat content increases by the Pacific Ocean, were compensated by an abrupt distribution of OHC into the Indian Ocean. More information is in the open-access journal Oceanography, special issue on ocean warming (vol. 31, issue 2, cover date July 2018).