title: An extreme event of sea-level rise along the Northeast Coast of North America in 2009-2010.
abstract: The coastal sea levels along the Northeast Coast of North America show significant year-to-year fluctuations in a general upward trend. The analysis of long-term tide gauge records identified an extreme sea-level rise (SLR) event during 2009-10. Within this 2-year period, the coastal sea level north of New York City jumped by 128 mm. This magnitude of interannual SLR is unprecedented (a 1-in-850 year event) during the entire history of the tide gauge records. Here we show that this extreme SLR event is a combined effect of two factors: an observed 30% downturn of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during 2009-10, and a significant negative North Atlantic Oscillation index. The extreme nature of the 2009-10 SLR event suggests that such a significant downturn of the Atlantic overturning circulation is very unusual. During the twenty-first century, climate models project an increase in magnitude and frequency of extreme interannual SLR events along this densely populated coast.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Paul B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Goddard
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, NOAA, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Griffies
authors.affiliation: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, NOAA, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA.
authors.forename: Shaoqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang