Persistent low pressure systems and wind stress are causing sea level rise on the East Coast

Clouds hover off the United States East Coast in this NPP Blue Marble image. Credit: NASA

A recent study funded in part by the Climate Program Office’s Climate Variability & Predictability (CVP) Program explores the effects of sea level pressure and wind on changing sea level along the U.S. east coast. This paper is part of a project by CVP-supported scientist Weiqing Han of the University of Colorado to determine causes for variability and change along the northeast coast of the U.S. in a changing climate. CVP supports this research in the context of a larger initiative to support the needs of NOAA Fisheries. Published in Geophysical Research Letters, the research team from the University of Colorado and NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory analyzes sea level change throughout the seasons and considers time scales from year-to-year to decades to provide new findings compared with previous research. The results focus on a certain pattern in which sea level rises relative to surrounding areas when a low pressure system moves over a region, and vice versa.