Objective
The melting of continental ice (glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets) is a substantial source of current sea-level rise, and one that is accelerating more rapidly than was predicted even a few years ago. Indeed, the most recent report from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted that the uncertainty in projections of future sea-level rise is dominated by uncertainty concerning continental ice, and that understanding of the key processes that will lead to loss of continental ice must be improved before reliable projections of sea-level rise can be produced. The ice2sea programme will draw together European and international partners, to reduce these uncertainties. We will undertake targeted studies of key processes in mountain glacier systems and ice caps (e.g. Svalbard), and in ice sheets in both polar regions (Greenland and Antarctica) to improve understanding of how these systems will respond to future climate change. We will improve satellite determinations of continental ice mass, and provide much-needed datasets for testing glacier-response models. Using newly developed ice-sheet/glacier models, we will generate detailed projections of the contribution of continental ice to sea-level rise over the next 200 years, and identify thresholds that commit the planet to long-term sea-level rise. We will deliver these results in forms accessible to scientists, policy-makers and the general public, which will include clear presentations of the sources of uncertainty. The ice2sea programme will directly inform the ongoing international debate on climate-change mitigation, and European debates surrounding coastal adaptation and sea-defence planning. It will leave a legacy of improved understanding of key cryospheric processes affecting development of the Earth System and the predictive tools for glacier-response modelling, and it will train a new generation of young European researchers who can use those tools for the future benefit of society.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Call for proposal
FP7-ENV-2008-1
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
CP-IP - Large-scale integrating projectCoordinator
SN2 1EU Swindon Wiltshire
United Kingdom
See on map
Participants (24)
27570 Bremerhaven
See on map
02101 Espoo
See on map
2100 Kobenhavn
See on map
2800 Kgs Lyngby
See on map
1350 Kobenhavn K
See on map
101 Reykjavik
See on map
3584 CS Utrecht
See on map
75794 Paris
See on map
EX1 3PB Exeter
See on map
0313 Oslo
See on map
1050 Bruxelles
See on map
61029 Urbino
See on map
BS8 1QU Bristol
See on map
Participation ended
EH8 9YL Edinburgh
See on map
1050 Brussel
See on map
1165 Kobenhavn
See on map
4000 Liege
See on map
8006 Zurich
See on map
40 007 Katowice
See on map
5110466 Valdivia
See on map
00196 Roma
See on map
9296 Tromsoe
See on map
01-452 Warsaw
See on map
LS2 9JT Leeds
See on map