Something's not quite right with the climate.While global CO2emissions have continued to swell, the global temperature rise has leveled off.Meanwhile, satellites and other observational tools indicate that the net heat retained by the planet has continued to increase, and that excess energy should be pushing up surface temperatures.But it's not. In fact, up to half the heat energy that was expected to fuel global wanning since 2003 has gone " missing.M Kevin Trenberth and John Fasullo of the National Center for Atmospheric Research ( NCAR) wonder where that heat may have gone--and what it could mean for the future of the climate. One possibility is that some of our measurements could be off.Although scientists have a lot of confidence in their ability to measure CO2buildup and the energy balance in the atmosphere--the data used in the measurements comes from multiple sources, all of which, Fasullo says, "tell the same story"--our data on ocean temperatures isn't as good."Keeping track of temperature over the whole oceans isn't that easy," says Fasullo. So, it is likely that the missing heat is being trapped deep in the ocean, well below the 900m to 1,500m range of our surface sensors.But despite their vastness, the deep oceans have a limit, says Fasullo, who thinks they won't behave as a heat sink over the long term."That's not what we've seen over long time scales in the past," he says."We clearly know the ocean can't absorb the heat indefinitely. Overall, the missing heat doesn't change expectations for future climate change, because the heat won't stay missing forever.Eventually it will resurface and impact the climate system, and the recent and deceptive reprieve from rapid warming we've enjoyed will come to an expected end.When that will happen is unknown, but better science can give us a clearer idea."At the end of the day, the system will come back to balance, and that suggests temperature will end up increasing," says Fasullo.So it's still up to us to do something about it. Where is the missing heat likely to hide, as Fasullo expects?
It may hide in our natural environment. It has sunk into ocean over the long term. It may be absorbed by large number of forests. It may be absorbed by deep ocean temporarily.