The rate of global sea level rise has increased by 50 per cent in a little over two decades, a study from Australian and international researchers has found.

The study, published by Nature Climate Change, used refined satellite estimates to show global sea level rise has increased from 2.2 millimetres each year in 1993, to 3.3 millimetres each year in 2014.

It was launched in an effort to understand why an accelerated rate of sea-level rise, between 1993 and 2014, had not been accurately represented in data from altimeters [satellite instruments used to measure height or altitude], despite accelerating contributions from ice sheets.

According to researchers from Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, CSIRO Australia and the Universities of NSW, Tasmania and Arizona, the dramatic increase is thought to be mostly related to the melting of the Greenland ice sheet.

"We don't know exactly why the pace has increased, as ice sheets are dynamic and quite complex," said report co-author Xuebin Zhang, senior scientist of CSIRO oceans and atmosphere.

"Based on robust estimates of the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet ... maybe it's from the surface melting and also the discharge of the ice gradually into the ocean," he said.

"Both processes cause a shifting of mass from the Greenland ice sheet into the ocean, so as long as you have the mass shifting from land to ocean, you will get this sea level rise effect."

The team of researchers compared satellite data between 1993 and 2014 with other environmental changes that contribute to sea level rise, such as thermal expansion, melting of land ice and changes to the amount of water stored on land.

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The increasing rate of global mean sea-level rise during 1993–2014

Xianyao Chen,      Xuebin Zhang,      John A. Church,      Christopher S. Watson,      Matt A. King,      Didier Monselesan,      Benoit Legresy      & Christopher Harig
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Nature Climate Change (2017) doi:10.1038/nclimate3325
Received 19 October 2016 Accepted 22 May 2017 Published online 26 June 2017
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Global mean sea level (GMSL) has been rising at a faster rate during the satellite altimetry period (1993–2014) than previous decades, and is expected to accelerate further over the coming century1. However, the accelerations observed over century and longer periods2 have not been clearly detected in altimeter data spanning the past two decades3, 4, 5. Here we show that the rise, from the sum of all observed contributions to GMSL, increases from 2.2 ± 0.3 mm yr−1 in 1993 to 3.3 ± 0.3 mm yr−1 in 2014. This is in approximate agreement with observed increase in GMSL rise, 2.4 ± 0.2 mm yr−1 (1993) to 2.9 ± 0.3 mm yr−1 (2014), from satellite observations that have been adjusted for small systematic drift, particularly affecting the first decade of satellite observations6. The mass contributions to GMSL increase from about 50% in 1993 to 70% in 2014 with the largest, and statistically significant, increase coming from the contribution from the Greenland ice sheet, which is less than 5% of the GMSL rate during 1993 but more than 25% during 2014. The suggested acceleration and improved closure of the sea-level budget highlights the importance and urgency of mitigating climate change and formulating coastal adaption plans to mitigate the impacts of ongoing sea-level rise.

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BTW - What was the outcome of your review of AR5. Chapter9 Table 9.5.