From ABC News in Science, 12 May 2015:
Sea levels over the past two decades have risen faster than previously thought, suggests a new study that reassesses the accuracy of satellite data.
The study by an international team of scientists, published today in Nature Climate Change , compares satellite records of sea levels made from 1993 to mid-2014 to tide gauge records.
Lead author and geophysicist Dr Christopher Watson says the study results address an ongoing puzzle about sea level rise.
Previous studies based on tide gauge or satellite data alone have suggested a slowing in the rate of sea level rise over the past decade relative to the one before it.
“That was a puzzle because it coincides with a period where we’ve got increasing water from West Antarctica and Greenland,” says Watson, senior lecturer at the University of Tasmania.
But comparison of the satellite and hourly tide gauge data, factoring in the land movements around those gauges, suggests that sea levels have risen faster since 1993 relative to slower rate in previous decades. Read more.
Bianca Nogrady 