To understand climate change and to predict changes in climate, both atmospheric and ocean models need to be able to reproduce the responses of the system they are estimating. An evaluation of two related global ocean models, using a nine year time series of model sea surface heights and measurements of sea level from a global tide gauge set, shows that the ocean models satisfactorily reproduce the instantaneous local change in sea level. Sea level can be used as a tool to understand a model's ability to simulate sea surface temperature and thus influence atmospheric flows. The implication for climate modeling is that these ocean models can be used to simulate seasonal to decadal variations in global ocean circulation when coupled to high quality atmospheric models. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996