Mediterranean Sea level trends: Atmospheric pressure and wind contribution

The 9 longest tide‐gauge records in the Mediterranean Sea are compared with the output of a barotropic model forced by atmospheric pressure and wind. Between 1958 and 2001 the tide‐gauges indicate sea level trends of −0.4 to 0.7 mm/yr. During the same period the model shows sea level reduction of −0.4 to −0.7 mm/yr linked with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). After the removal of the meteorological influence from the sea level records the resulting trends are ∼0.3 ± 0.4 mm/yr at the western Mediterranean and ∼1.3 ± 0.4 mm/yr at the eastern Mediterranean. The eastern basin is strongly affected by rapid sea level rise in the period 1993–2001 with rates of 5–10 mm/yr which are probably related to the Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT).