https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_E._Trenberth

Trenberth , the "missing heat" and the "pause" in global warming Draft, new section for his Wikibio

In a 2013 article in Geophysical Research Letters, Trenberth and collaborators argue that the ‘missing’ heat is sequestered in the ocean, below 700 m. [1] In a second 2013 paper, Trenberth and Fasullo said that the strong 1997-98 El Niño event may have triggered the current warming pause. But the pause "can't keep going on forever" – and, he suspects, not "much longer", Trenberth said. [2] [3]

"The 1997 to ’98 El Niño event was a trigger for the changes in the Pacific, and I think that’s very probably the beginning of the hiatus,” says Kevin Trenberth, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. According to this theory, the tropical Pacific should snap out of its prolonged cold spell in the coming years.“Eventually,” Trenberth says, “it will switch back in the other direction.” [4]

Trenberth's theoretical explanation of the "pause" in global warming attracted wide attention in the press. [4] [5] [6] Climate scientist Judith Curry has criticized the Trenberth et al. GRL paper as "inconclusive". [7]


  1. ^ Distinctive climate signals in reanalysis of global ocean heat content, by Magdalena Balmaseda, Kevin Trenberth, Erland Kallen. Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 40, Issue 9, pages 1754–1759, 16 May 2013. Full text online
  2. ^ An apparent hiatus in global warming?, by Kevin E. Trenberth & John T. Fasullo. Earth's Future Volume 1, Issue 1, pages 19–32, December 2013
  3. ^ Global Warming 'Pause' Isn't What Climate Change Skeptics Say It Is by Terrell Johnson, The Weather Channel, Jan 13, 2014
  4. ^ a b Climate change: The case of the missing heat, Nature (journal) , Jan. 15, 2014
  5. ^ Oceans continue to warm, especially the deeps, Ars Technica, Apr 1 2013
  6. ^ Mystery of the 'Missing' Global Warming , Bloomberg News, Oct 23, 2013
  7. ^ Has Trenberth found the ‘missing’ heat? by Judith Curry, March 29, 2013