The UKRI have awarded £47M to NERC research centres to address six critical environmental science challenges facing the UK, including climate change mitigation strategies, coastal flooding & erosion, and extreme weather.
CPOM is to collaborate on 3 projects BIOPOLE, CANARI & TerraFIRMA.
Biogeochemical processes and ecosystem function in a changing polar system (BIOPOLE), £9 million
Led by the British Antarctic Survey, in collaboration with:
- British Geological Survey
- Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling
- National Oceanography Centre
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.
Project partners include:
- Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany
- Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Germany
- University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA
- University of Alberta, Canada
- University of Bristol, UK
- University Centre in Svalbard, Norway.
Climate change is proceeding faster at the poles than any other region, resulting in sea ice loss and glacial melting.
There is a clear urgency in understanding the full implications of these changes for the polar regions themselves and for the wider Earth system.
BIOPOLE will provide a step change in the knowledge and predictive capability concerning how polar ecosystems regulate the chemical balance of the world’s oceans and, through it, their effect on global fish stocks and carbon storage.
Climate change in the Arctic-North Atlantic region and impact on the UK (CANARI), £12 million
Led by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, in collaboration with:
- British Antarctic Survey
- British Geological Survey
- Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling
- National Centre for Earth Observation
- National Oceanography Centre
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.
The project partner is the Met Office Hadley Centre, UK.
The weather and climate of the UK is shaped by the large-scale circulation of the atmosphere and ocean in the North Atlantic.
This project will advance understanding of the impacts on the UK arising from climate variability and change in the Arctic-North Atlantic region. It will focus on extreme weather and the potential for rapid, disruptive change.
This will enable the UK to play an internationally leading role in addressing the challenges of understanding regional climate change and provide detailed information about impacts on the UK.
Future impacts risks and mitigation actions (TerraFIRMA), £9.5 million
Led by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, in collaboration with:
- British Antarctic Survey
- British Geological Survey
- Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling
- National Centre for Earth Observation
- National Oceanography Centre
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.
Project partner is the Met Office Hadley Centre, UK.
This project will provide reliable guidance on the risks and impacts of future climate change. It will assess a range of mitigation strategies:
- impacts on allowable carbon budgets and pathways to net zero
- wider environmental, economic and societal impacts, for example, sustainable development goals
- co-benefits, for example, air quality.
The full details can be found at: £47m to address critical environmental challenges facing the UK – UKRI