Sea level rise

The global mean sea level change provides a measure of the net change in ocean mass due to melting of glaciers and ice sheets, changes in terrestrial water resources, as well as net change in ocean volume due to thermal expansion.

Sea level has increased throughout the satellite altimetry record, but the rate has increased over that time, due partly to melting of ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica.
The rate of global sea level rise has increased since satellite altimeter measurements began in 1993, reaching 4.4 mm/yr between 2013 and 2021. Global mean sea level reached a new record high in 2021. (WMO 2021).

Although sea level has risen almost everywhere since 1993, sea level has not risen equally everywhere. Regional patterns of sea level change are dominated by local changes in ocean heat content and salinity. Several regions continue to be affected by a rate of sea level rise substantially faster than the global mean.