"Researchers found the average temperature of the upper ocean increased by 0.09 degrees Celcius (0.16 degrees Fahrenheit) from 1993 to 2003, and then fell 0.03 degrees Celcius (0.055 degrees Fahrenheit) from 2003 to 2005. The recent decrease is a dip equal to about one-fifth of the heat gained by the ocean between 1955 and 2003. They analyzed data from a broad array of ocean moorings, floats and shipboard sensors, and supported their results with data from NASA's Jason and Topex/Poseidon satellites."
http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/ocean-cooling-suggests-global-warming-speed-bump-11561.html

So in 10 year period ocean temperature increase on average less than .01 degrees per year, but between 2003 and 2005 temperatures drop by .015 degrees per year- the rate of change is more than 50% greater- indicating a more severe cooling.

Continuing:
"Monitoring the heat content of the oceans is vital to understanding how Earth's energy balance is changing. "The capacity of Earth's oceans to store the sun's energy is more than 1,000 times that of Earth's atmosphere," Lyman said. "It's important to measure upper ocean temperature, since 84 percent of the heat absorbed by Earth since the mid-1950s has gone toward warming the ocean. Measuring ocean temperature is really measuring the progress of global warming."

I would agree it measures progress, or this case the lack of progress, but I don't know what they mean by "since 84 percent of the heat absorbed by Earth since the mid-1950s has gone toward warming the ocean." I was unaware that the earth absorbed any significant amount energy- other than the ocean. If I had to guess I would say the oceans would absorb something like 99.9% of the energy.

Continuing:
"The recent changes in ocean temperature run deep. A small amount of cooling was detected at the ocean's surface, consistent with global measurements of sea-surface temperature. The maximum amount of cooling was at a depth of 400 meters (about 1,300 feet), but substantial cooling was still observed at 2,500 feet, and the cooling appears to extend deeper.

Lyman said the cause of the recent cooling is not yet clear. Research suggests it may be due to a net loss of heat from the Earth. "Further work will be necessary to solve this cooling mystery," he said."

Our sky's mass is roughly equal to about 30' of water. The ocean if were equal depth globally it would be roughly 3000' deep. So the ocean's mass is about 100 times that of the sky. So if average atmosphere temperature were 1 degree warmer this would equal the same energy as the average ocean temperature being .001 degree warmer. The other factor is difference in absorbtion and retention of energy- the atmosphere gains most of it's energy from convective of energy rather than absorbing radiation- the atmosphere is warmed from the ocean surface and the land surface. The atmosphere is more of a "consumer" of energy rather a provider of potential energy that is stored from solar energy. The air cools quickly, the land also cools fairly quickly, the ocean can retain it's energy for months even years.