FLUCTUATIONS OF THE WORLD OCEAN LEVEL DURING THE 20<sup>th</sup> CENTURY
The role of eustatic and steric factors in the inter-annual fluctuations of the World Ocean level (WOL) is discussed. The results of evaluation of the contribution of evaporation, precipitation, iceberg discharge and sea water density changes tothe WOL rise during different periods of time are presented. The disparity between actual and calculated trends of the WOL is significant, thus a considerably higher accuracy is needed for the calcilation of components of the global water balance.