UPDATE: Global Warming: The deeper half of the ocean did not get measurably warmer in the last decade, but surface layers have been warming faster than we thought

Sea level change from Year 2005 to Year 2013: The overall rise, on average, was 2.78mm per year. The estimated contribution of melting land ice was 2mm per year. The contribution from warming and expanding shallow layers (above 2km) was approximately 0.9mm per year. This leaves -0.13mm per year for depths beneath 2km (corresponding to a slight cooling of the deep water. However, the error associated with that "residual" is 0.72mm per year - meaning the results are too blurred by uncertainty to indicate significant warming or cooling at depth. The deeper half of the ocean did not get measurably warmer in the last decade, but surface layers have been warming faster than we thought since the 1970s, two new studies suggest. Because the sea absorbs 90% of the heat caused by human activity, its warmth is a central concern in climate science. The new work suggests that shallow layers bear the brunt of ocean warming. Scientists compared temperature data, satellite measurements of sea level, and results from climate models. Both the papers appear in the journal Nature Climate Change. Source: Nature Climate Change