Global sea level provides an important indicator of the state of the warming climate, but changes in regional sea level are most relevant for coastal communities around the world. With improvements to the sea-level observing system, the knowledge of regional sea-level change has advanced dramatically in recent years. Satellite measurements coupled with in situ observations have allowed for comprehensive study and improved understanding of the diverse set of drivers that lead to variations in sea level in space and time. Despite the advances, gaps in the understanding of contemporary sea-level change remain and inhibit the ability to predict how the relevant processes may lead to future change. These gaps arise in part due to the complexity of the linkages between the drivers of sea-level change. Here we review the individual processes which lead to sea-level change and then describe how they combine and vary regionally. The intent of the paper is to provide an overview of the current state of understanding of the processes that cause regional sea-level change and to identify and discuss limitations and uncertainty in our understanding of these processes. Areas where the lack of understanding or gaps in knowledge inhibit the ability to provide the needed information for comprehensive planning efforts are of particular focus. Finally, a goal of this paper is to highlight the role of the expanded sea-level observation network-particularly as related to satellite observations-in the improved scientific understanding of the contributors to regional sea-level change.

中文翻译：

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对当代区域海平面变化的理解及其对未来的影响

全球海平面是气候变暖状况的重要指标，但区域海平面的变化与世界各地的沿海社区最为相关。近年来，随着海平面观测系统的完善，对区域海平面变化的认识取得了显着进展。卫星测量与现场观测相结合，可以进行全面研究，并加深对导致海平面时空变化的各种驱动因素的理解。尽管取得了进展，但对当代海平面变化的理解仍然存在差距，并且限制了预测相关过程如何导致未来变化的能力。这些差距的出现部分是由于海平面变化驱动因素之间联系的复杂性。在这里，我们回顾了导致海平面变化的各个过程，然后描述它们如何在区域内结合和变化。本文的目的是概述对导致区域海平面变化的过程的当前理解状态，并确定和讨论我们对这些过程的理解的局限性和不确定性。缺乏理解或知识差距阻碍了为综合规划工作提供所需信息的能力的领域受到特别关注。最后，本文的一个目标是强调扩大的海平面观测网络（特别是与卫星观测相关的网络）在提高对区域海平面变化影响因素的科学认识方面的作用。