What happened to "the Pacific ocean ate the global warming" narrative
I think maybe trenberth realized that if the sort of heat he was talking about had in fact been sequestered in the ocean, the warming would have caused the water to expand and the result would be obvious in the tidal gages. Enough research has been done on sea level at this point that they would have just looked stupid trying to claim rising sea level.
Was this the point I missed?
yeah.. he was referring to corrobating the Ocean Heat rise with tidal gauge readings. If the BTK heat was MORE significant -- you OUGHT to be able to see the thermal expansion on those gauges. (maybe).. In fact -- something like 40% of that rise you just plotted is NOT NEW WATER --- it's thermal expansion.. And another chunk of it is due to basin changes and geologic vertical shifts of shorelines. True story..
So for thermal expansion to account for THAT MUCH of the rise you're sweating, it MUST be systemic in the entire ocean volume --- not just surface warming.. Dont ask me HOW they separate the thermal expansion from REAL WATER VOLUME WITHOUT a BTK study -- but they do... Criminy Bullwinkle -- aint you the Ocean Engineering representative here?
You tell me..