Investigating the Acceleration of Regional Sea Level Rise During the Satellite Altimeter Era

The 25-year record of satellite altimeter-measured sea level has led to improvements in the understanding of sea level change on both regional and global scales. However, the extent to which the pattern of regional sea level rise measured by altimeters is representative of the forced sea level response remains an open question. Internal variability both contributes to regional sea level changes on short time scales and masks the pattern of forced trend and acceleration associated with anthropogenic global warming. Recent studies have demonstrated that the forced trend pattern of regional rise has begun to emerge, although there has been no assessment of a possible associated acceleration. Here, the regional acceleration pattern is estimated from the altimeter sea level record and assessed with regard to the influence of internal variability. While the dominant features in the acceleration pattern can be attributed to internal variability, there is an indication that the forced acceleration pattern may emerge as the record continues to lengthen.