July 6, 2025
During the 2010–2011 La Niña event, global mean sea level experienced a substantial but temporary decline, driven by excess evaporation from the ocean and rainfall over land, particularly over Australia. Here we revisit El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events from 1993 to 2022 to investigate similar patterns in previous events. Our analysis shows that ENSO events cause a series of changes in the atmosphere, land, and ocean, leading to noticeable shifts in global sea levels. These changes include variations in tropical Pacific sea surface temperature, ocean and land rainfall, land water storage, and sea surface salinity. Together, these factors help explain how ENSO influences global sea levels. During La Niña and El Niño events, South Africa, southern and eastern Asia (including India and China), northern South America, and northwestern and southeastern North America appear as key regions driving global land water mass changes. Interestingly, Australia played a significant role in the 2010–2011 La Niña event but was less influential in others. These findings underscore the teleconnection between ENSO and global sea level fluctuations, with the most pronounced changes in global mean sea level occurring during the initial phases of ENSO events.
Read more > Huazhen Li, Andréa S. Taschetto, Alex Sen Gupta, Caroline C. Ummenhofer 2025, Global Mean Sea Level Changes to ENSO-Related Regional Land Water Storage, Geophysical Research Letters, 52 (14) e2025GL115799, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL115799
