Sea surface temperature (SST) data from the NOAA analysis for the period of 1955–97 are used to identify dominant spatial and temporal patterns associated with interannual, decadal–interdecadal variabilities, and global warming. For the global annual mean SST variation, a linear trend plus pronounced decadal–interdecadal and interannual variabilities are found. The linear trend reflects a slow warming of about 0.1°C in the past four decades. Superimposed on the linear trend is a relatively fast warming in the past two decades of approximately 0.2°–0.3°C, which is associated with the advent of the warm phase of a decadal–interdecadal oscillation. Also noted is the more frequent occurrence of warm events and the dearth of cold events on interannual timescales in the early and mid-1990s. For the last four decades, the tropical oceans have been warming at the faster rate while the extratropical North Pacific and the northwestern North Atlantic has been cooling at the slower rate. The exceptional inte... Abstract Sea surface temperature (SST) data from the NOAA analysis for the period of 1955–97 are used to identify dominant spatial and temporal patterns associated with interannual, decadal–interdecadal variabilities, and global warming. For the global annual mean SST variation, a linear trend plus pronounced decadal–interdecadal and interannual variabilities are found. The linear trend reflects a slow warming of about 0.1°C in the past four decades. Superimposed on the linear trend is a relatively fast warming in the past two decades of approximately 0.2°–0.3°C, which is associated with the advent of the warm phase of a decadal–interdecadal oscillation. Also noted is the more frequent occurrence of warm events and the dearth of cold events on interannual timescales in the early and mid-1990s. For the last four decades, the tropical oceans have been warming at the faster rate while the extratropical North Pacific and the northwestern North Atlantic has been cooling at the slower rate. The exceptional inte...