Timescales for detecting a significant acceleration in sea level rise

Haigh, Ivan D.; Wahl, Thomas; Rohling, Eelco J.; Price, René M.; Pattiaratchi, Charitha B.; Calafat, Francisco M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7474-135X; Dangendorf, Sönke. 2014 Timescales for detecting a significant acceleration in sea level rise. Nature Communications, 5. 3635. 10.1038/ncomms4635

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4635

Abstract/Summary

There is observational evidence that global sea level is rising and there is concern that the rate of rise will increase, significantly threatening coastal communities. However, considerable debate remains as to whether the rate of sea level rise is currently increasing and, if so, by how much. Here we provide new insights into sea level accelerations by applying the main methods that have been used previously to search for accelerations in historical data, to identify the timings (with uncertainties) at which accelerations might first be recognized in a statistically significant manner (if not apparent already) in sea level records that we have artificially extended to 2100. We find that the most important approach to earliest possible detection of a significant sea level acceleration lies in improved understanding (and subsequent removal) of interannual to multidecadal variability in sea level records.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1038/ncomms4635
ISSN:	2041-1723
Date made live:	15 May 2014 09:07 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/507253

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1038/ncomms4635

ISSN:

2041-1723

Date made live:

15 May 2014 09:07 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/507253