The ocean absorbs more than 90% of the anthropogenic heat released in the climate system, therefore mediating global warming on decadal to centennial timescales. The magnitude and rate of ocean heat uptake are affected by several key ocean processes, which carry heat from the surface into the interior. While the ocean has been warming for several decades, the temperature record in the ocean interior is sparse and limited, particularly before 2000's. 

Furthermore, climate models show a wide range of ocean warming rates both over the historical period and over the 21st century. In this talk, I will present a reconstruction of global and regional ocean warming over the historical period and discuss emergent constraints on ocean warming over the coming century.  I will show that background ocean circulation controls the global-mean rate of ocean heat uptake, while changes in ocean circulation dominate the regional patterns of ocean warming.