I’m curious, at what depth do they take these readings and do thermaclines factor into these equations? Also, do oceans have “turnovers” like lakes do when the surface temperatures drop below the temperature of the lake?
They are upper ocean readings, taken within 10’ of the surface, probably. The deeper ocean is stratified and does not change temperature very much, so it’s not a sensitive measure of change.
My bad for not having written clearly: These are Sea Surface Temperature readings, not the temperature of the entire ocean, which is why they are prone to fluctuations.