English: This image shows trends in global average absolute sea level between 1870 and 2008. From the cited public-domain source (US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), 2010): "After a period of approximately 2,000 years of little change, average sea levels rose worldwide throughout the 20th century, and the rate of change has accelerated in recent years. [...] When averaged over all the world's oceans, absolute sea level increased at an average rate of 0.06 inches per year from 1870 to 2008 [...] From 1993 to 2008, however, average sea level rose at a rate of 0.11 to 0.13 inches per year—roughly twice as fast as the long-term trend.

[...] While absolute sea level has increased steadily overall, particularly in recent decades, regional trends vary, and absolute sea level has decreased in some places [...] Relative sea level also has not risen uniformly because of regional and local changes in land movement and long-term changes in coastal circulation patterns."