Download General press release for CARBOOCEAN first annual meeting

General press release for CARBOOCEAN first annual meeting (22.11.-24.11.2005):
CARBOOCEAN first annual meeting on
“Ocean Carbon Sources and Sinks” (EU FP6)
At
Konklijke Nederlands Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW), Het Trippenhuis
Kloveniersburgwal 29
1011 JV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
More than 100 of Europes’s leading ocean researchers meet at Amsterdam (address see above),
The Netherlands, during 22-24 November 2005 in order to assess the ocean’s role in taking up
anthropogenic carbon dioxide – the major driving agent for a human induced climate change.
This assessment is carried out through the largest European funded research project on marine
carbon research ever: the Integrated Project CARBOOCEAN (see also:
http://www.carboocean.org).
The ocean is considered as the major ultimate sink for the atmospheric greenhouse gas carbon
dioxide. The timing of the oceanic carbon dioxide uptake is one of the most critical factors in
determining the strength of the expected climate change during the coming decades and centuries.
A correct quantification of the oceanic carbon sink is essential for human societies to plan ahead:
(1) How large will the future warming of the climate system will be? (2) To which degree must
societies reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in order to minimise damage due to climate
change? (3) What will the feedbacks to the marine ecosystem and climate be due to uptake of
carbon dioxide by the oceans?
These and other related questions are vital within a global context. Enforcements of
internationally binding treaties on greenhouse gas limitations, such as the Kyoto Protocol, have to
be ensured and extended in future. The global ocean acidification due to the uptake of carbon
dioxide by the ocean may lead to large scale changes in ocean ecosystems and possibly have
implications for the food chain.
Within CARBOOCEAN, basic research is carried out which directly will feed into a best possible
prediction of future greenhouse gas forcing. Marine observations, process studies, and high-end
computer models are combined in a cooperative research project on marine carbon cycling of
unprecedented scope. The CARBOOCEAN Consortium consists of 47 international high-level
research groups from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Morocco, the Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the USA.
CARBOOCEAN is funded under EU´s 6th Framework Programme and coordinated by the
Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, a Norwegian Centre of Excellence. The project receives
14.5 million EURO support from the European Commission over 5 years. The project started on
1 Januar 2005. The meeting in Amsterdam will summarise the first year of the project and initiate
the next project phase. Local hosts of the meeting at Amsterdam are the Royal Netherlands
Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ, Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut voor Onderzoek der Zee) and
the University of Groningen.
Contact:
Prof. Hein J.W. de Baar
CARBOOCEAN deputy project director
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
P.O. Box 59
1790 AB Den Burg
The Netherlands
Telephone +31 222 369465
Telefax +31 222 319674
Email: [email protected]
Contact:
Christoph Heinze, PhD
Prof. in Global Carbon Cycle Modelling
CARBOOCEAN project director
University of Bergen, Geophysical Institute and
Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research
Office address: Allégaten 70, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
Phone: +47 55 58 98 44 Fax: +47 55 58 98 83
Mobile phone: +47 975 57 119
Email: [email protected]