Measuring and modelling the ocean carbon sink
Slowing the rate of climate change, the ocean acts as a carbon sink. It absorbs 25 % of the CO2 we emit to the atmosphere. While the ocean plays an important role in the global carbon cycle, it is not easy to measure and model carbon uptake. For instance, it is not possible yet to quantitatively link ocean carbon storage and direct human pressures like fishing and mineral extraction. In this context, the OceanICU project will measure these key processes and evaluate their overall significance, transferring those that are important into models that inform the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in order to resolve the observed model data mismatch of ocean carbon sink estimates. This is in line with the EU’s Green Deal commitments.
