From: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Published June 19, 2008 09:18 AM
Ocean temperatures and sea level increases 50 percent
higher than previously estimated
LIVERMORE, Calif. — New research suggests that ocean temperature and
associated sea level increases between 1961 and 2003 were 50 percent larger
than estimated in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
The results are reported in the June 19 edition of the journal Nature. An
international team of researchers, including Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory climate scientist Peter Gleckler, compared climate models with
improved observations that show sea levels rose by 1.5 millimeters per year
in the period from 1961-2003. That equates to an approximately 2˝-inch
increase in ocean levels in a 42-year span.
The ocean warming and thermal expansion rates are more than 50 percent
larger than previous estimates for the upper 300 meters of oceans.
The research corrected for small but systematic biases recently discovered
in the global ocean observing system, and uses statistical techniques that
“infill”� information in data-sparse regions. The results increase
scientists’ confidence in ocean observations and further demonstrate that
climate models simulate ocean temperature variability more realistically
than previously thought.
“This is important for the climate modeling community because it
demonstrates that the climate models used for assessing sea-level rise and
ocean warming tie in closely with the observed results,”� Gleckler said.
Climate model data were analyzed from 13 different modeling groups. All
model data were obtained from the WCRP CMIP3 multi-model dataset archived at
the LLNL’s Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI).
Although observations and models confirm that recent warming is greatest in
the upper ocean, there are widespread observations of warming deeper than
700 meters.
Results were compared with recent estimates of other contributions to
sea-level rise including glaciers, ice caps, Greenland and Antarctic ice
sheets, and thermal expansion changes in the deep ocean. When these
independent lines of evidence are examined collectively, the story is more
consistent than found in earlier studies.
The oceans store more than 90 percent of the heat in the Earth’s climate
system and act as a temporary buffer against the effects of climate change.
The ocean warming and thermal expansion rates are 50 percent larger than
previous estimates for the upper 700 meters of oceans, and greater than that
for the upper 300 meters.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak,”� Gleckler said. “Our
ability to quantify structural uncertainties in observationally based
estimates is critically important. This study represents important
progress.”�
The team involved researchers from the Centre for Australian Weather and
Climate Research (CSIRO), the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative
Research Centre and LLNL.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |