2E. Trends in Ocean Heat Penetration

This figure shows the heat content of the ocean measured at three depths: from 0-300 meters, from 0-700 meters, and from 0-3000 meters.  Each line on the graph corresponds to measurements taken at one of these three depths and shows a gradual increase in heat content over time. Warming of the oceans has many consequences, including sea level rise, coral bleaching, loss of sea ice, intensification of hurricanes, and higher coastal storm surges.  Taken together with figure 2A, this figure shows that increased temperatures have been observed at the earth’s surface and in the oceans.

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