Oceans play a key role in the climate system and are also affected by climate change. As confirmed by the recent IPCC special report on ocean and cryosphere, ocean dynamics are a major modulator of weather and climate including future trends and extremes. However, there are still uncertainties in the understanding and quantification of key climate-ocean interactions and the ocean’s buffering capacities for absorbing heat and CO2 which calls for more progress in those areas on understanding, observation and modelling. In response to that, JPI Climate and JPI Oceans partners launched a joint call for research proposals which resulted in the selection of two research projects:
- MEDLEY - MixED Layer hEterogeneitY – Coordinator: Dr Anne Marie Tréguier, Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale, France. The project aims to evaluate the spatial heterogeneity of the ocean mixed layer dynamics and improve its representation in climate modelling to improve their accuracy and consistency.
- ROADMAP - The Role of ocean dynamics and Ocean-Atmosphere interactions in Driving cliMAte variations and future Projections of impact-relevant extreme events – Coordinator: Dr Daniela Matei, Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Germany. This project will investigate the influence of North Atlantic and North Pacific ocean surface variability on the extratropical atmospheric circulation, with a focus on high-impact weather and climate extremes under present-day and future climate conditions.
The results of the two projects will help to inform adaptation policy to increase resilience and adaptation measures for vulnerable areas, especially in coastal and low island areas.
A joint kick off meeting for the projects will be organized probably in June 2020 in Brussels by the two JPIs together with the projects to facilitate exchange and synergies.
Funding for the research projects was awarded through a competitive call process, based on assessments by a scientific evaluation committee. The scientific evaluation committee consisted of the following scientists:
- Filipe Duarte Santos, University of Lisbon, Portugal
- Damià Gomis, University of Balearic Islands, Spain
- Simon Josey, National Oceanographic Center, United-Kingdom
- Vassiliki Kotroni, National Observatory of Athens, Greece
- Katherine Richardson, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Gianmaria Sannino, Agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development (ENEA), Italy
- Marco Zavatarelli, University of Bologna, Italy
In December 2015, 195 countries adopted the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, which sets out a global action plan to limit global warming to well below 2°C. The Joint Call launched by JPI Climate and JPI Oceans is responding specifically to Paris Agreement which asks all undersigned parties to “strengthen their cooperation on enhancing action on adaptation… incl. Strengthening scientific knowledge on climate, including research, systematic observation of the climate system and early warning systems, in a manner that informs climate services and supports decision-making.”
For this joint call for research proposals research funding organisations from Belgium, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Norway and Portugal, allocated funding.
- Belgium | Belgian Science Policy Office, BELSPO
- France| National Research Agency, ANR
- Germany | Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF
- Iceland | The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute MFRI & Meteorological Institute, MO
- Ireland | Marine Institute, MI
- Italy | Ministry of Education, University and Research, MIUR
- Latvia | Ministry of Education and Science, IZM
- Norway | Research Council of Norway, RCN
- Portugal | Science & Technology Foundation, FCT