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See all climate myths in our special feature.

One study in 2006 suggested that the upper layers of the ocean had . The apparent cooling was very slight – just 0.02°C – but needless to say, this should not be happening if the planet is getting warmer (see Cooling oceans buck global trend).

The study was based on measurements taken by a worldwide array of floats (the Argo Network) that . The finding was surprising because other studies have concluded that the oceans are warming very much as predicted.

Now the authors of the 2006 study have . It turns out that a fault in the software on some of the floats led to some temperature measurements being associated with the wrong depth.

Meanwhile, work by other teams suggests that the past warmth of the oceans has been overestimated. The problem was due to expendable sensors that are thrown overboard and take measurements as they sink. .

While there is still some doubt about precisely how much the oceans have warmed, they are warming. In particular, there is a strong warming trend from the 1990s onwards – just as the models predict.