New Paper on Causes of 20th Century sea level

Published in Nature.

The work shows that we can close the ‘sea-level budget’ since 1900 and therefore explain the causes of the observed changes in sea level over the 20th century.

Global sea level has risen by about 20 cm since 1900, which has been caused by thermal expansion and ice melt, while there is now more liquid water stored on land than in 1900. The decrease is due to the fact that we have impounded a lot of water in dammed reservoirs. All the new dams almost brought sea-level rise to a halt.

Over the 20th century, most sea-level rise is caused by glacier melt, while the recently increased mass loss Greenland and Antarctica are catching up quickly. Sea level is also rising at an accelerated rate because of thermal expansion.