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Waves do not contribute to global sea-level rise

Nature Climate Change volume 9, page 2 (2019)Cite this article

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To the Editor — In a recent Article, Melet et al.1 claim that the contribution of wind waves to coastal sea-level rise has been under-estimated. Although we agree with the overall premise that coastal wind-wave dynamics are important when assessing the full coastal impacts of sea-level rise, we argue that the Article is misleading.

First, the importance of wave contributions to coastal flooding events in the context of regional to global sea-level rise has already been investigated at interannual to decadal timescales by including mean wave set-up in total water level estimates2,3,4. Melet et al. assert that waves also directly contribute to mean sea-level rise by considering a total wave run-up that includes not only mean wave set-up but also extreme swash motions. We argue that waves can indeed contribute to extreme water level events on wave-exposed shorelines; however, treating wave run-up (including swash motions) as equivalent to mean sea-level changes is misleading. This distinction is important, as wave-driven water level extremes require different mitigation strategies compared to long-term sea-level rise.

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References

  1. Melet, A., Meyssignac, B., Almar, R. & Le Cozannet, G. Nat. Clim. Change 8, 234–239 (2018).

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  2. Vitousek, S. et al. Sci. Rep. 7, 1399 (2017).

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  3. Vousdoukas, M. I. et al. Nat. Commun. 9, 2360 (2018).

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  5. Deshoulières, A. Prévision des Pentes de Plage et Estimation Statistique Mondiale (SHOM, 2009).

  6. Rhein, M. et al. in Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (eds Stocker, T. F. et al.) 255–316 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LEGOS, Université de Toulouse, IRD, CNRS, CNES, UPS, Nouméa, France

    Jerome Aucan

  2. CSIRO, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Ron K. Hoeke

  3. US Geological Survey, Santa Cruz, CA, USA

    Curt D. Storlazzi

  4. School Of Ocean And Earth Science And Technology, Ocean Resources And Engineering, University Of Hawaii At Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Justin Stopa

  5. Geoscience, Energy & Maritime Division, Pacific Community, Suva, Fiji

    Moritz Wandres

  6. Oceans Graduate School and UWA Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia

    Ryan Lowe

Authors
  1. Jerome Aucan
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  2. Ron K. Hoeke
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  3. Curt D. Storlazzi
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  4. Justin Stopa
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  5. Moritz Wandres
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  6. Ryan Lowe
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Correspondence to Jerome Aucan.

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Aucan, J., Hoeke, R.K., Storlazzi, C.D. et al. Waves do not contribute to global sea-level rise. Nature Clim Change 9, 2 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0377-5

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