One thing it does not represent is a metric of global surface heat content. (notrickszone.com)
Surface temperature and OHC (or better Global Surface Heat Content, bearing in mind that the entire ocean is less than 0.2 % of the radius of the Earth) both have immediate scientific import, being values in the equation for climate sensitivity as calculated by energy balance. (skepticalscience.com)
His analysis looks at the change in radiative heat transfer in and out of the earth as measured by satellites around transient peaks in ocean temperatures (oceans are the world's temperature flywheel — most of the Earth's surface heat content is in the oceans). (climate-skeptic.com)