This chart will revolutionize your understanding of climate change

Climate change isn't all about atmosspheric temperatures

When people speak about global warming, most times they are referring to atmospheric temperatures. However, it's not how the science of warming actually shakes out. In fact, a mere 2.5 percent of all the heat absorbed by planet Earth ends up in the air, while 93 percent of it ends up in the oceans. This very short animation from Climate Central makes the scale of the difference clear:

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.