Definition
Predictions of sea level change are usually given in terms of the “eustatic level” which can be defined as the mean geodetic level of the sea surface, but the term has to be used with a degree of caution. Firstly, there are many factors influencing local sea level resulting in a wide geographical variation from a mean value as shown in Fig. 1. Whereas most of the world will show positive increases, areas undergoing uplift resulting from reduction in past ice loading will show decreases of sea level. Secondly, modern measurements of sea level use satellite altimetry which makes it easy to determine an average global change, but this technique has only been available since 1993 (Fig. 2). Previously an average had to be calculated from tide gauge records, but these have a distribution related to well-populated areas, and hence the global average was biased, but nevertheless, making appropriate allowances, such records are very useful for studies of historical changes. Sea...
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Barton, M. (2018). Sea Level. In: Bobrowsky, P.T., Marker, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73568-9_252
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