The effects of mean sea level rise on society, either directly by loss of land and facilities, or indirectly by expenses needed for coastal defence and other costs, can influence the economic and social conditions in a country. The uncertainty of magnitudes and even direction of possible evolutions introduces an important difficulty for decision making on the basis of suitable measures.
This work provides a survey of different causes of mean sea level changes, such as long period tidal constituents, changes in atmospheric pressure and prevailing winds, thermal expansion of ocean water due to increasing atmosphere temperature, melting of glacial ice, ... Next, calculating the mean sea level by means of a numerical filter is explained.
Finally, a calculation model for the prediction of the mean sea level, based on regression analysis, is proposed. Forecasts for more than twenty years ahead are next to very uncertain, because sea level rise is not an autonomous process, but a part of changes in the coupled system of atmosphere and oceans.
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