Skip to main content
EnglishEN
European Commission logo print header

Ocean Cryosphere Exchanges in ANtarctica: Impacts on Climate and the Earth system

Project description

DEENESFRITPL

Predicting the fate of Earth’s largest ice sheet

The largest block of ice on Earth, the Antarctic ice sheet, covers more than 14 million square kilometres. Its fate rests on how fast we can stop Earth from warming. Melting would cause a catastrophic sea level rise. The EU-funded OCEAN ICE project will improve assessments of the impact on the European climate from the melting ice sheets. It will develop a sheet-climate model that can be used to predict how changes in the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets impact global climate. On the basis of existing data, the project will formulate new estimates of ice sheet melt and the impact on ocean circulation.

Objective

OCEAN:ICE will assess the impacts of key Antarctic Ice Sheet and Southern Ocean processes on Planet Earth, via their influence on sea level rise, deep water formation, ocean circulation and climate. An innovative and ambitious combination of observations and numerical models, including coupled ice sheet-climate model development, will be used to improve predictions of how changes in the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets impact global climate. It will make new circumpolar and Atlantic observations in observational gaps. It will assimilate these and existing data into improved ice sheet boundary conditions and forcing, producing new estimates of ice sheet melt and impacts on ocean circulation, including the Atlantic Meridional Overturning circulation. It will develop, calibrate and assess models used to predict the future evolution of the giant ice sheets. It will reduce the deep uncertainty in the impact of their melt on societally relevant environmental changes on decadal to multi-centennial time scales. OCEAN:ICE will assess the potential for passing ice sheet 'tipping points' and their consequences for ocean circulation and climate.

OCEAN:ICE will raise the profile of European research through its extensive network of international collaborators, who provide scientific and logistical support. It will directly contribute to the All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance through observations, logistical collaboration and analysis. It will significantly advance the state-of-the-art in coupled ice sheet-climate modelling and directly contribute to international climate assessments such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and World Ocean Assessment. It will link organically to European data centres to disseminate its data, following FAIR and INSPIRE principles. It will deliver improved assessments of European climate impacts from the melting ice sheets, with actionable risk and timescales, to policymakers and the public.

Fields of science

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

HORIZON-CL6-2021-CLIMATE-01

See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

Coordinator

DANMARKS METEOROLOGISKE INSTITUT
Net EU contribution
€ 380 177,50
Address
LYNGBYVEJ 100
2100 Kobenhavn
Denmark

See on map
Region
Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 380 177,50

Participants (11)

Partners (6)

Share this page

Download

Last update: 26 August 2022

My Booklet

Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101060452

European Union, 2024