Measuring the Ocean's Heat Energy
Posted by
cypresstx on 2/19/2012, 2:03 pm
http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/imageoftheday.php
Feb 15, 2012
Measuring the Ocean's Heat Energy
The National Oceanographic Data Center has updated their ocean heat and salinity data products to include data from 2011. Shown here are comparison images from 1970 and 2011 for global ocean heat content (OHC) between the surface and 700 meters (2,296 ft) depth. The OHC analysis uses data from ships and buoys to estimate the total amount of heat energy contained in the ocean. Because this is an integrated measure of heat energy, joules are used as the unit. Since 1955, the global ocean heat content has increased at a rate of about 4x1021 joules per year. That increase is equal to about 1x1015 kilowatt-hours of energy. The U.S. Dept. of Energy estimates that the average U.S. household uses 1x104 kilowatt-hours per year, which means that the ocean gains the equivalent of 8x the amount of energy necessary to power all U.S. households per year (not including the energy at depths greater than 700 meters).
(incredibly large image link)
http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/images/high_resolution/983v1_983v1_1970-2011-Ocean_Heat_Content2.png
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