## 5 Conclusions  
Sea level rise in regions such as the Caribbean has significant impact on the lives and livelihoods of people, but has been historically understudied, in part due to inadequate gauge data. Satellite altimetry is found to be a reliable source of information about sea level variability that can address this deficiency. This study uses altimetry data to examine multi-timescale sea level variability near Jamaica in the Caribbean. It updates prior Caribbean-focussed altimetry studies by using a longer timeseries, covering 1993-2019. Sea levels off the south coast of Jamaica are rising at a rate of 3.3 \(\pm\) 0.4 mm/year. This is comparable to the global mean estimate, but significantly higher than previous Caribbean estimates using altimetry data up to 2010. There is seemingly an acceleration of the rate of rise in the last decade. The steric effect associated with increasing Caribbean sea surface temperatures seems to be driving the long-term increase in the sea levels over the altimetry era. The Jamaican record shows seasonal variability characterized by a single peak during July-August (summer season) and lowest sea levels in the spring season. The major drivers of interannual variability (including for the summer season) are a tropical Pacific-tropicalAtlantic SST gradient index, local winds, and the Caribbean low-level jet (CLLJ). These drivers are not unrelated, since (for example) the SST gradient index (i.e., which tropical basin is warmer) is strongly associated with the strength of the CLIJ. Previous studies also show ENSO to be a significant driver of interannual variability in the Caribbean. This study corroborates this, but further suggests that it plays this role through modulation of both the Pacific-Atlantic index and the strength of the CLIJ. The CLIJ should be included in predictive models of Caribbean sea levels. An understanding of sea level variability on multiple timescales provides a platform from which planning for enhanced risk from interannual cycles and sea level extremes associated with tropical cyclones may be possible. Future work will focus on further characterisation of historical sea level change (variability and drivers) across the entire Caribbean basin and for individual countries, especially given the noted variations between north and south Caribbean. This study provides a template for doing so. Furthermore, as illustrated by this study, a number of previous studies (e.g., those investigating variation in annual and semi-annual harmonics across the Caribbean Sea) need to be replicated using the longer altimetry data now available. This will complement research already being carried out to investigate the future sea level change from coupled models. Finally, notwithstanding the value of the altimetry data, this work also highlights the need for more reliable tide gauge data within the Caribbean region, especially for validation of the results at the sub-regional and island scales. This remains the greatest limitation to local sea level variability studies. Conceptualization, D.O.M., M.A.T. and T.S.S. ; methodology, D.O.M., M.A.T. and T.S.S. ; software, D.O.M. ; validation, D.O.M., M.A.T. and T.S.S. ; formal analysis, D.O.M. ; investigation, D.O.M. ; data curation, D.O.M. ; writing--original draft preparation, D.O.M. ; writing--review and editing, D.O.M., M.A.T. and T.S.S. ; visualization, D.O.M. ; supervision, M.A.T. and T.S.S. ; funding acquisition, M.A.T. and D.O.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research was funded by CCRIF SPC through the 2018 CCRIF-UWI Graduate Programme, and by The University of the West Indies (Mona) through the UWI Postgraduate Research fund. Not applicable.