Let’s not debate the larger AGW question, just the specific one about ocean temperature. Based on the estimated rate of ocean heat accumulation taken from the graph, as well as my calculation about the heat capacity of the ocean, it appears that we will get 1 degree of ocean warming in 500 years. True or false? If false, what’s wrong with the calculation?
Heat content of the oceans is complicated because you can’t treat the oceans as a single reservoir—they have layers and these layers do not mix well. In particular, any warming of the oceans is confined to the upper layers.
You can find lots of discussion e.g. here, or, more specifically, here.
Assuming that the simplifications you’ve made are OK—which is a question for which you’d need an actual climate scientist or oceanographer—there’s nothing wrong with the calculation. I just don’t see why it’s a calculation whose answer we should be very interested in. Are you doing it just out of curiosity or is it intended to tell us something important about the impact of AGW?
Let’s not debate the larger AGW question, just the specific one about ocean temperature. Based on the estimated rate of ocean heat accumulation taken from the graph, as well as my calculation about the heat capacity of the ocean, it appears that we will get 1 degree of ocean warming in 500 years. True or false? If false, what’s wrong with the calculation?
Heat content of the oceans is complicated because you can’t treat the oceans as a single reservoir—they have layers and these layers do not mix well. In particular, any warming of the oceans is confined to the upper layers.
You can find lots of discussion e.g. here, or, more specifically, here.
Assuming that the simplifications you’ve made are OK—which is a question for which you’d need an actual climate scientist or oceanographer—there’s nothing wrong with the calculation. I just don’t see why it’s a calculation whose answer we should be very interested in. Are you doing it just out of curiosity or is it intended to tell us something important about the impact of AGW?