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Persistent acceleration in global sea-level rise since the 1960s

Author

Listed:
  • Sönke Dangendorf

    (University of Siegen
    Old Dominion University)

  • Carling Hay

    (Boston College)

  • Francisco M. Calafat

    (National Oceanography Centre)

  • Marta Marcos

    (IMEDEA (UIB-CSIC))

  • Christopher G. Piecuch

    (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

  • Kevin Berk

    (University of Siegen)

  • Jürgen Jensen

    (University of Siegen)

Abstract

Previous studies reconstructed twentieth-century global mean sea level (GMSL) from sparse tide-gauge records to understand whether the recent high rates obtained from satellite altimetry are part of a longer-term acceleration. However, these analyses used techniques that can only accurately capture either the trend or the variability in GMSL, but not both. Here we present an improved hybrid sea-level reconstruction during 1900–2015 that combines previous techniques at time scales where they perform best. We find a persistent acceleration in GMSL since the 1960s and demonstrate that this is largely (~76%) associated with sea-level changes in the Indo-Pacific and South Atlantic. We show that the initiation of the acceleration in the 1960s is tightly linked to an intensification and a basin-scale equatorward shift of Southern Hemispheric westerlies, leading to increased ocean heat uptake, and hence greater rates of GMSL rise, through changes in the circulation of the Southern Ocean.

Suggested Citation

  • Sönke Dangendorf & Carling Hay & Francisco M. Calafat & Marta Marcos & Christopher G. Piecuch & Kevin Berk & Jürgen Jensen, 2019. "Persistent acceleration in global sea-level rise since the 1960s," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 9(9), pages 705-710, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:9:y:2019:i:9:d:10.1038_s41558-019-0531-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-019-0531-8
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Matías Carvajal & Patricio Winckler & René Garreaud & Felipe Igualt & Manuel Contreras-López & Pamela Averil & Marco Cisternas & Alejandra Gubler & Wolfgang A. Breuer, 2021. "Extreme sea levels at Rapa Nui (Easter Island) during intense atmospheric rivers," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1619-1637, March.
    2. Gao, Meng & Zhang, Aidi & Zhang, Han & Pang, Yufei & Wang, Yueqi, 2022. "Multifractality of global sea level heights in the satellite altimeter-era," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 604(C).
    3. Théophile Bongarts Lebbe & Hélène Rey-Valette & Éric Chaumillon & Guigone Camus & Rafael Almar & Anny Cazenave & Joachim Claudet & Nicolas Rocle & Catherine Meur-Ferec & Frédérique Viard & Denis Merci, 2021. "Designing coastal adaptation strategies to tackle sea level rise," Post-Print hal-03412421, HAL.
    4. Denis L. Volkov & Kate Zhang & William E. Johns & Joshua K. Willis & Will Hobbs & Marlos Goes & Hong Zhang & Dimitris Menemenlis, 2023. "Atlantic meridional overturning circulation increases flood risk along the United States southeast coast," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Ben S. Hague & Andy J. Taylor, 2021. "Tide-only inundation: a metric to quantify the contribution of tides to coastal inundation under sea-level rise," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 107(1), pages 675-695, May.
    6. Sadaf Mahmoudi & Hamed Moftakhari & David F. Muñoz & William Sweet & Hamid Moradkhani, 2024. "Establishing flood thresholds for sea level rise impact communication," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.

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