For those of you who happened to be lucky enough to watch Surface, in all it’s unfortunately cancelled glory, this science-related story about pockets of heat being trapped in the ocean probably sets off more than a few implausible warning bells, all of which probably sound a lot like this:

Oh god, are corporations breeding giant sea monsters that feed off super hot waters near volcanoes that will somehow lead to a tsunami taking out Myrtle Beach?!

Or that could have just been me, and my inability to willingly separate fact from fiction, which I know is more likely than not.

Anyway, much like the series tagline prophesied, there is indeed “something in the water”, and it’s stranger than fiction, nay, stranger than Surface, and absolutely true if not a little bit worrying.

What am I babbling on about? Well, it turns out that climate change has not been happening at nearly the rate as originally expected, and no one knows where the “missing heat” had gone to, though scientists have long suspected it was hiding somewhere in the ocean. Well, the answer to “where is all that heat?” is 700 meters below the surface of the ocean, and as far as I can tell, it has nothing to do with sea monsters and inexplicably evil corporations…

…yet.

It seems odd as one of the basic rule of thermodynamics is that heat rises (or really, find equilibrium, but let’s not split hairs) and that the warmed water shouldn’t be staying in the lower depths of the ocean. But this strangeness has been attributed to stronger trade winds that have been churning the water further and further down. Scientists are not optimistic that most of the damage done by the oceans swallowing of the heat is reversible.

Though the full extent the changes that will be brought on by global warming can only be guessed at, one thing we can bet on is that the saga of climate change, unlike my beloved Surface, is not likely to be off our television sets any time soon.

(Source: MongaBay)