Ongoing research at the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI) has produced improved estimates of ocean heat content leading to a better understanding of which regions of the ocean are warming up and which ones are cooling down. This animation shows monthly vertically integrated ocean heat content anomalies for 2007-2016 using data from Argo profiling floats from the surface down to 2000 meters depth. Regions that were warmer than the long-term average are shown as red, while regions that were colder than average are shown as blue. The strong El Niño event in 2015 and the weaker one in winter 2009-2010 can be clearly identified as warm anomalies in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean.

To view Ocean Heat Content Anomaly Animation, please click image below: