Closing the sea level budget (between observed rise and the sum of its causes) has been a challenge, is an ongoing effort and has primarily concerned the global mean. Here, the authors use machine learning to identify sub-areas with similar trends to close the sea level budget on a regional level, with much reduced errors compared with 1-degree grid points.

Increasing Greenland Ice Sheet--melting is anticipated to impact water mass transformation in the subpolar North Atlantic and ultimately the meridional overturning circulation. Greenland meltwater redistribution pathways in and impact on the subpolar North Atlantic and overturning circulation is currently among the most debated topics. The manuscript provides new insights to both physical oceanographic processes and climate modelling. Based on a systematic setup of model configurations the importance of atmospheric feedbacks and mesoscale dynamics for specific regions of the subpolar North Atlantic are emphasized. This reaches beyond aspects of model techniques and also addresses the need for continued and improved observations in critical locations of the subpolar North Atlantic gyre circulation.