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Editor's Highlight
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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 35,
L08715,
doi:10.1029/2008GL033611,
2008
Recent global sea level acceleration started over 200 years ago?
S. Jevrejeva
Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, Liverpool, UK
J. C. Moore
Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland
A. Grinsted
Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland
P. L. Woodworth
Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, Liverpool, UK
Abstract
We present a reconstruction of global sea level (GSL) since 1700 calculated from tide gauge records and analyse the evolution
of global sea level acceleration during the past 300 years. We provide observational evidence that sea level acceleration
up to the present has been about 0.01 mm/yr2 and appears to have started at the end of the 18th century. Sea level rose by 6 cm during the 19th century and 19 cm in the
20th century. Superimposed on the long-term acceleration are quasi-periodic fluctuations with a period of about 60 years.
If the conditions that established the acceleration continue, then sea level will rise 34 cm over the 21st century. Long time
constants in oceanic heat content and increased ice sheet melting imply that the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) estimates of sea level are probably too low.
Received 12
February
2008;
accepted 28
March
2008;
published 30
April
2008.
Keywords: sea level acceleration;
sea level rise;
IPCC projections.
Index Terms: 4556 Oceanography: Physical: Sea level: variations and mean (1222, 1225, 1641); 1724 History of Geophysics: Ocean sciences; 1707 History of Geophysics: Cryosphere; 1807 Hydrology: Climate impacts.
Read Full Article (file size: 157941 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Jevrejeva, S., J. C. Moore, A. Grinsted, and P. L. Woodworth
(2008),
Recent global sea level acceleration started over 200 years ago?,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
35,
L08715,
doi:10.1029/2008GL033611.
Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.
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