A Planning Workshop for an International Coupled North Atlantic-Arctic Science Program

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole MA

Investigators

Abstract

The coupled North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean basins and the associated regional shelves and marginal seas are an integral part of the global climatic, biological, and biogeochemical system. As the locus of confluence of the warm Gulf Stream and cold Arctic waters and the northern arm of meridional overturn circulation (AMOC) and deep-water formation, it is a major player in global climate and heat redistribution. This extensive region provides habitat supporting some of the largest exploited fish stocks on Earth. Moreover, the North Atlantic alone sequesters approximately one-quarter of the annual anthropogenic carbon dioxide production. At a time of accelerating global climate change, it is especially important for North American and European governments and scientists to work jointly to advance our mechanistic understanding of the links between this region and global climate change. With funds from this award, the U.S. Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Program Office at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will join with the European Commission and Canada to coordinate and run a scientific workshop to develop a comprehensive vision for a North Atlantic - Arctic research program. The workshop will bring together the necessary expertise in marine ecosystem dynamics, marine biogeochemistry, and ocean physics to establish the interdisciplinary framework for a large international research initiative to examine key components of the North Atlantic - Arctic system (AMOC, spring bloom timing and dynamics, etc.). While previous observational campaigns in the region have provided tremendous insights, this effort would be a long-term investment in a coordinated research program to enable the study of biogeochemical and ecosystem processes alongside ocean physics that will be required for obtaining a more complete picture of how the North Atlantic - Arctic system works and how it is changing. Potential program themes might include (among other things) communication between the two basins, small-scale (mesoscale and submesoscale) and large-scale (AMOC) circulation, spring bloom dynamics, sustainable fisheries, ecosystem health, and predictive modeling. Broader Impacts: This workshop and the international research initiative that will emerge from it embody the type of global scientific enterprise that is needed to address important science questions that directly impact humans. International pooling of intellectual and monetary resources not only improves the quality of the science, but it prevents duplication of effort and wasted resources, and promotes a collaborative approach and a comprehensive vision that spans multiple disciplinary and geographic boundaries. The timing of this effort is critical, since key international players are ready to move forward with scientific planning efforts and commit resources to an international research program.