Geophys. Res. Lett. http://doi.org/k5s (2013)

The recent hiatus in upper ocean (top 700 m) warming has led to uncertainties about the ocean's role in regulating climate, and in the Earth's energy budget. Previous studies indicate the surface-warming hiatus may be balanced by deep ocean heat uptake.

Magdalena Balmaseda, of the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts, and collaborators use a new observation-based ocean reanalysis to investigate the ocean heat content at different depths, from 1958–2009. They report that although the warming in the upper ocean has paused, the deeper ocean has absorbed the heat, accounting for about 30% of ocean warming in the last decade. Periods of decrease in the ocean heat content are linked to volcanic eruptions and large El Niño events. Wheras Balmaseda et al. explain recent changes in vertical ocean heat distribution in terms of surface wind variability.