Sea level rise along China coast from 1950 to 2020

Global mean sea level rise has been reconstructed using tide gauges. However, long-term sea level rise along the China coast is unclear. To address this issue, a data assimilation approach is developed to reconstruct sea level rise along the China coast from 1950 to 2020 using a global distribution of tide gauges (TGs). This approach combines climate models and sea level fingerprints. The climate models provide stereodynamic sea level changes. The sea level fingerprints include increases in ocean mass due to global ice melting and changes in water storage on land. The reconstructed global mean sea level rise agrees well with previous studies. We quantify sea level rise at 20 TGs along the China coast. The results suggest that sea level rise along the China coast (1.95±0.33 mm yr−1) is greater than the global mean (1.71±0.17 mm yr−1). We also find that China’s coastal sea level rise is more than three times the global mean after 1980, increasing from 0.84±0.28 mm yr−1 for 1950–1980 to 3.12±0.21 mm yr−1 for 1980–2020. This finding implies a significant sea level acceleration along the China coast. Our results advance the understanding of long-term sea level changes along the China coast.