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2000 Years of Subpolar North Atlantic Circulation

Project description

Protecting climate future through scientific collaboration

The UN has raised concerns about the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a vital ocean current system. This deterioration could unleash climate and weather changes, leading to socio-economic stresses in agriculture, fisheries, infrastructure, and migration. In this context, the MCSA-funded SNAC2K project aims to establish a comprehensive, long-term record of subpolar North Atlantic circulation, combining instrumental observations and proxy analyses. The project will participate in policy work, teaching, and outreach activities. Overall, SNAC2K aims to raise awareness of the urgent need for mitigating the potential socio-economic consequences of a long-term AMOC decline.

Objective

The United Nations has expressed concern over the potential weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in the next century, which could cause climate and weather alterations that lead to various socio-economic stresses, especially in agriculture, fisheries, infrastructure maintenance and social migration. The value of information associated with a continuous observational record of the AMOC system, which enables confident prediction of future trend, has been estimated to be tens of billions of euros. While instrumental observations of the AMOC system are only available for the last decades, we must rely on proxy indicators in natural archives to capture the long-term trend of ocean circulation throughout the Industrial Age, and further back in time when there were little anthropogenic carbon emissions. Such a long-term record is particularly important for the subpolar North Atlantic: a region of deep convection that maintains the AMOC, susceptible to freshening as a result of increasing Arctic ice melt.

This project aims to develop the first comprehensive, long-term record of subpolar North Atlantic circulation through cross-disciplinary, cross-border collaboration between the French Institute for Ocean Science (host), University of Iceland (secondment), and Copenhagen University. The proposed study will compile new proxy analyses with the expanding coverage of instrumental observations to provide a confident reconstruction of the region’s hydrography and dynamics over the past two millennia.

Ultimately, the project findings will be effectively delivered to the decision makers, the young generation and the general public through participation in policy works at JPI Oceans (placement), university teaching and outreach activities. The multimodal delivery of project findings aims to raise awareness of the severity of a long-term AMOC decline and to facilitate cooperation for timely mitigation of potential socio-economic consequences.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01

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Coordinator

INSTITUT FRANCAIS DE RECHERCHE POUR L'EXPLOITATION DE LA MER
Net EU contribution
€ 244 893,60
Address
1625 ROUTE DE SAINTE ANNE ZONE INDUSTRIELLE DE LA POINTE DU DIABLE
29280 Plouzane
France
Region
Bretagne Bretagne Finistère
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
No data

Partners (2)