Ocean warming is causing subtle changes in tides.

• Warmth increases energy transfer from tides with larger vertical movement (barotropic) to tides with smaller vertical movement (baroclinic).

• This results in open-ocean tides losing a few percent more energy to internal waves compared to three decades ago.

• The observed changes in surface tides are small (about a 1-centimeter drop in coastal tide levels over several decades).

• However, even minor tidal changes can have significant impacts on areas with complex underwater topography and pronounced tidal activity (e.g., Gulf of Maine, northern Australia).

Read more at the Earth.com website.