Acceleration of global mean sea level rise

Headline statement A.1.7 of the IPCC AR6 report on the physical science basis of climate change. (August 9, 2021)

Global mean sea level increased by 0.20 [0.15 to 0.25] m between 1901 and 2018. The average rate of sea level rise was 1.3 [0.6 to 2.1] mm/year between 1901 and 1971, increasing to 1.9 [0.8 to 2.9] mm/year between 1971 and 2006, and further increasing to 3.7 [3.2 to 4.2] mm/year between 2006 and 2018 (high confidence). Human influence was very likely the main driver of these increases since at least 1971.

 In its "State of the climate 2022" report (Figure 6) released April 21, 2023, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) used satellite data of sea surface height to show that over the 1993-2002 period, global mean sea-level was rising at a rate of 2.3 mm/year. This accelerated to 3.3 mm/year over the 2003-2012 period, and then to 4.6 mm/year over the 2013-2022 period. This is mostly due to ocean thermal expansion and accelerated melting of the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets.