Mean Sea Level as seen by altimeters

Mean Sea Level rise could be a sign of global warming of the atmosphere. Monitoring this level is an application of altimetry, and one of the main issue in Environmental sciences of the 21^st century.

Global mean sea level since October 1992 as seen by the altimetry satellites. Seasonal variations have been removed. These data are corrected from Inverse barometer effects, but not from Post-glacial rebound ones. (Credits Cnes/CLS/Legos).
Download the data (NetCDF).

Mean sea level variations can be estimated by altimeters. About half of the observed rise is thought to be due to increased water temperature. The rest could comes from melting glaciers, fluctuations in the level of continental waters (see What is causing sea level to rise?).

Map of sea level variation trends since 1992. If the global trend is rising, regional trends can noticeably differ from it : while in certain ocean regions the sea level has indeed risen (by up to 20 millimetres a year in places), in others it has fallen an equivalent amount. (Credits CLS/Legos)
Download the data (NetCDF).