<p>A  robust feature of global warming is that the surface of the land warms more than the surface of the oceans. We call this the land/ocean temperature contrast.\\   The contrast.<\p>

<p>The  reason is partly because the oceans are slow to warm up compared to land, but that's not the whole story.\\   If story.<\p>

If  we were to warm earth's oceans by $1^{\circ}$C 1&#x2103;C  and then stop (in our real world "experiment" we haven't stopped yet), the land would warm by about $1.5^{\circ}$C and then stay warmer than the   oceans, even after the ocean has 'caught up' to the land. The land and ocean surface temperatures have a similar relationship in   the warming and cooling of year-to-year variability. \\