Sea level rise is one of the calamitous impacts of climate change for Small Island Developing states, like those of the Caribbean Region. Interestingly, sea level rise is not homogeneous in time or space and therefore trends in sea level rise vary over time. This study looks at quantifying the sea level rise in the Caribbean over 27 years of the recent past (1993-2019) and investigate if there are any sudden changes in the rate of sea level rise. The study uses satellite altimetry data, ocean temperature data and ocean salinity data among other oceanographic data sources to identify the time at which these changes occur (change-point/break-point). The major contributors to sea level trends during the different time periods, on either side of the significant change-point, were investigated in the study. The study found that the trends in Caribbean sea-level rise are over 60% higher than the global mean sea level (GMSL) trends in the most recent period which suggests that sea level rise may be an even greater threat to the Caribbean now and going into the future with continued climate change.

The study was co-authored by Deron Maitland (lead author), graduate student and his supervisors Professors Michael Taylor and Tannecia Stephenson (all from the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, Mona) and collaborators.  

Photo caption: Deron Maitland studies sea levels in the Caribbean. The photo is from the tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl in the English Channel. Image credit: Private

Access full article: https://bjerknes.uib.no/en/article/news/ice-melt-changes-paradise-islands

Reference: Maitland, D. O., Richter, K., Raj, R. P., Bonaduce, A., Nisancioglu, K. H., Taylor, M. A., & Stephenson, T. S. (2024). Determining sea-level rise in the Caribbean: A shift from temperature to mass control. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 10387. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-60201-8