Project description
What happens when Earth’s shield fades
Earth’s magnetic field acts as a protective shield against solar and cosmic radiation. However, during geomagnetic excursions and reversals (GERs), the defence weakens significantly. Events such as the Laschamps excursion 41 000 years ago may have caused major atmospheric and climatic disruptions. Their true impact remains unclear. The ERC-funded GERACLE project brings together palaeomagnetism, space physics, and climate science to fill this knowledge gap. Using advanced geomagnetic reconstructions and Earth-system models, the team will explore how GERs reshape space weather, atmospheric chemistry, and climate. By decoding past events, GERACLE also aims to assess potential threats posed by future magnetic upheavals. This knowledge is crucial for a world increasingly reliant on vulnerable technology.
Objective
The intensity of Earth’s magnetic field, which forms an important shield for our habitat, drops dramatically during geomagnetic excursions and reversals (termed GERs). The Laschamps excursion (~41 000 years ago) occurred during profound climatic changes, possibly leading to drastic effects on the biosphere. While impacts of GERs on the atmosphere can be expected, the magnitude, time scales, and even the direction/sign of effects on our habitat are unknown. The significantly weakened magnetic field shrinks the magnetosphere, enhancing energetic particle fluxes from outer space to the middle and lower atmosphere and even ground. The impact of GERs on the energetic particle precipitation from the magnetosphere is also unknown. The dynamics of near-Earth space and the atmosphere during GERs and their potential impacts have not yet been addressed in full complexity, due to a lack of reliable data, precise models and interdisciplinary approaches. We will unravel key dynamics and connect physical processes during GERs and establish their environmental consequences by synergistically bringing together expertise from palaeomagnetism, magnetospheric, solar, heliospheric, atmospheric physics and climate. We will combine new data-based geomagnetic field models with state-of-the-art magnetospheric, atmospheric, and global Earth-system models for a complete process view. Expected breakthroughs will include new knowledge on the very existence and structure of the magnetosphere and radiation belts, radiation fields and ionization patterns in the atmosphere, and induced physical, chemical and dynamical effects and climate responses during GERs. Further emphasis will be put on potential hazards for our technological society during a potential future GER. GERACLE will go far beyond the current state–of–the–art, provide ground-breaking advances, and form a new paradigm of the consequences of past and yet unexplored GER events for our habitat and the impacts of possible future GERs.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences meteorology biosphera
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-SYG - HORIZON ERC Synergy Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-SyG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
14473 POTSDAM
Germany
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