A storm surge reflects the difference between the actual water level under the influence of a meteorological disturbance (storm tide) and the level which would have occurred in the absence of the meteorological disturbance (i.e., astronomical tide) (WMO, 2008, 2011, 2017).
A storm tides is the actual sea level as influenced by a weather disturbance. The storm tide consists of the normal astronomical tide plus the storm surge (WMO, 2017).
Tsunami is the Japanese term meaning wave (‘nami’) in a harbour (‘tsu’). It is a series of travelling waves of extremely long length and period, usually generated by disturbances associated with earthquakes occurring below or near the ocean floor (IOC, 2019).
Ocean acidification refers to a reduction in the pH of the ocean over an extended period, which is caused primarily by uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and can also be caused by other chemical additions or subtractions from the ocean (IPCC, 2011).