Due to its high heat capacity, the ocean integrates the surface fluxes, producing high signal-to-noise ratio at decadal and longer timescales. On the contrary, long-term changes in atmospheric variables are difficult to measure due to the atmosphere high variability on short timescales. Looking at oceanic variables is thus interesting in order to successfully detect a response to the anthropogenic climate change. This manuscript further examines recent upper ocean temperature and surface ocean salinity changes. As 80% of the excess heat caused by increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, over the last decades, has accumulated in the ocean, the rate of ocean warming is one of the best indicators of the Earth's energy imbalance. Surface ocean salinity provides Nature's largest possible rain gauge and can be efficiently used as an indicator of the changing marine water cycle. Detection methods are applied to assess whether a human influence can be detected in the recent observed changes.
