Global warming brought by climate change creates increasingly distinct layers of warm water that hinder seawater circulations needed for regulating climate and marine life.

A new study shows more heat is building up in the ocean's upper 600 feet than deeper down. This distinct warm layer on the surface can intensify tropical storms, disrupt fisheries, interfere with ocean absorption of carbon, and deplete oxygen, according to a climate scientist at Penn State, Michael Mann.

The study published in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that ocean stratification is increasing, meaning the oceans are becoming more stable with less "up-and-down" motion.

Another report said that ocean stratification is happening faster than scientists expected. Mann, a co-author of the study, said the negative impacts would come faster and greater than expected.

The research also showed that some of the worst-case global warming scenarios highlighted in major international climate reports could not be ruled out. Mann noted that if the ocean surface warms faster and less carbon is carried to the depth, atmospheric CO2 could triple.

He also said that the global average temperature could increase by eight degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.

"The take-home point, here, is that once again we are learning that the uncertainties are not breaking in our favor," he noted. Mann added that the impacts of climate change are proving to be worse than they expected.

Researchers also found that stratification in the upper 600 feet of the ocean increased by six percent in the last 50 years.

Climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf, with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impacts Research, said that ocean stratification is yet another climate science prediction that comes true. Rahmstorf was not involved in the study.

The increase in layering shows that there is less exchange between the surface and deeper oceans. It means bad news on a number of fronts, according to a report.

"For example, it reduces the oxygen supply to the waters below the ocean surface, which is bad for marine life. Oxygen-depleted dead zones are already spreading in the oceans," Rahmstorf said in a report.

He added that evidence is increasing that the circulation system is already slowing down, as predicted by climate models.

A study published in 2015 in the journal Climate Dynamics said that impacts would include cooling in the North Atlantic and Northern Hemisphere in general. There will also be less precipitation in the midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.

In addition, there will be large precipitation shifts in the tropics and a strengthening of the North Atlantic storm track.

The study also suggests that increased layering could affect El Niño-La Niña cycles in the Pacific. The layer warm-cold-fluctuation could make El Niños with global hot spikes and cool-downs during La Niña.

The study added that the increasing stratification could suppress those cycles and permanently leave the Pacific in El Niño state.

Meanwhile, co-author Kevin Trenberth, a climate scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said that effects on marine life are more certain.

Trenberth noted that greater stability resists vertical movements and can profoundly affect zooplankton, fish, and mammals.

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