• Corpus ID: 15425641

Sea Level Rise in Australia and the Pacific

@inproceedings{Mitchell2001SeaLR,
  title={Sea Level Rise in Australia and the Pacific},
  author={W. M. Mitchell and G. W. Lennon},
  year={2001}
}

• W. Mitchell, G. Lennon
• Published 2001
• Environmental Science

It is generally accepted that the determination of a trend in a sea level record is only possible when a long time series of observed elevations over many years is available. The small magnitude of the trend on the one hand, and the perturbation of the record by systematic noise over a wide range of frequencies on the other, determine that this is so. In the context of sea level trend analysis, the word ‘Noise’ can be considered to apply to any feature present in the observed record which impedes access to the underlying long term change of mean sea level. Prominent in this category, and especially in the tropical Pacific, are the sub-regional variations of sea level which occur in time scales of five to ten years and which are associated with the El Ni£o phenomenon. Such features, together with the notorious volcanic and tectonic crustal motions of the Pacific Rim affecting the land levels to which the observations are referred, are of particular concern to those who seek an early assessment of sea level trends in the region.