Estimating Global Energy Flow from the Global Upper Ocean

The relative significance of short multi-year linear trends in the global integral of 0-700 m ocean heat content anomaly (OHCA) is investigated by examining the overlapping segments of the 16-year OHCA curve from Lyman et al. (Nature 465:334-337, 2010). Segments of 4 years and less are found not to be significantly different from each other or from 0 at the 90% confidence interval. Likewise, short 5- to 7-year segments are not statistically different from each other. Ten-year and longer trends are significant and provide a useful comparison for satellite observations of the radiation imbalance at the top of the atmosphere.