Sea Level

LATEST MEASUREMENT:
LATEST ANNUAL AVERAGE ANOMALY:
December 2023
104 (± 4.0) mm Created with Sketch.
This is the “uncertainty margin,” or the range from the mean (average) within which there is a high probability that the true number resides. For example, when we say global sea level has risen 101 mm +/- 4 mm, the true value has a high probability of being between 97 and 105 mm. The uncertainty margin exists both because of sea level variability (sea level above the first point in the time series) in the ocean and the accuracy with which we measure the individual values.
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Sea level rise is caused primarily by two factors related to global warming: the added water from melting ice sheets and glaciers, and the expansion of seawater as it warms. The first graph tracks the change in global sea level since 1993, as observed by satellites.

The second graph, which is from coastal tide gauge and satellite data, shows how much sea level changed from about 1900 to 2018. Items with pluses (+) are factors that cause global sea level to increase, while minuses (-) are what cause sea level to decrease. These items are displayed at the time they were affecting sea level.

The data shown are the latest available, with a four- to five-month delay needed for processing.

* You now need to create an Earthdata account to access NASA’s sea level data. Register here for free. Once logged in, click the "download data" button on this page to access the data.

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NASA Sea Level Change

SATELLITE DATA: 1993-PRESENT

Data source: Satellite sea level observations.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
RISE SINCE 1993
103.8
millimeters

SOURCE DATA: 1900-2018

Data source: Frederikse et al. (2020) 
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/PO.DAAC
data graph