Sea Level Change in the Canary Current System during the Satellite Era

Abstract

Understanding the causes of global sea level rise is considered as an important goal of climate research on a regional scale, especially around islands, owing to their vulnerability to this phenomenon. In the case of the Canary Islands, these alterations entail an increase in territorial risks. The Canary Islands span the transitional zone linking the Northwest African upwelling system and the open ocean waters of the subtropical gyre. Here, we used satellite altimeter data to perform a detailed statistical analysis of sea level anomaly from 1993 to 2019. A seasonal study was carried out at two different regions and sea level anomaly was compared with temperature variability in the area. A total rise in the sea level of around 7.94 cm was obtained for the last 27 years in both areas. Sea level anomaly was strongly influenced by sea surface temperature, as expected. In addition, we found differences between the annual cycle in the open ocean and the upwelling zone, showing different patterns in both sites. The expected increase in sea level for the year 2050 in the coastal zone of the archipelago was estimated to be 18.10 cm, affecting the coastal economy of the islands, which is strongly based on the use of beaches for tourism.