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Indicators 2017 - Sea level
The evolution of mean sea level has a direct impact on coastal areas and is an essential indicator of climate change, as it reflects both the amount of heat added in the ocean and the mass loss due to land ice melt.
Daily global-mean mean sea level without annual and semi-annual signals for January 1993 to May 2017. The data has been adjusted for glacial isostatic adjustment. Data source: CMEMS Ocean Monitoring Indicator based on the C3S sea level product. Credit: Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)/ECMWF/Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service
Over the period from January 1993 to May 20017 sea level has risen with a rate of about 3.4 ± 0.5 mm/year in a confidence interval of 90% (1.65 sigma), which translated to a global increase in sea level of about eight centimetres. On an inter-annual time scale, the rate of the global sea level rise showed a rapid increase during 2015, but was slightly reduced during 2016 corresponding to a neutral El Nino Southern Oscillation index.
Observed altimeter sea level trends (mm/year) during January 1993 to May 2017. The data has not been adjusted for glacial isostatic adjustment. Data source: CMEMS Ocean Monitoring Indicator based on the C3S sea level product. Credit: Copernicus Climate Change Service/ECMWF/Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service
The spatial distribution of the altimeter sea level trends during 1993-2017 shows large-scale variations, with some regions such as the western tropical Pacific Ocean experiencing up to +8 mm/year.
In the European Seas, sea level trends are mainly positive, with most areas showing trends of between 1-4 mm/year. The associated uncertainty strongly varies according to being in the open ocean or in coastal areas. Only a few locations exhibit non-significant sea level trends, including the central parts of the Mediterranean Sea.
The “About the data” section explains more about the production and reliability of the values presented here.