CLIVAR Town Hall at 2014 Ocean Sciences Meeting
Other CLIVAR-relevant sessions at OSM include:
Air-sea Interactions and Upper Ocean Processes
159 - CLIVAR: Ocean and Atmosphere Variability, Predictability and Change
Roughly 20 years ago the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) launched its CLIVAR project to facilitate observation, analysis and prediction of changes in Earth's climate system, with a focus on ocean-atmosphere interactions. This session will highlight the many achievements of the global CLIVAR community, including improved understanding of modes of global and regional variability and climate processes essential to predictability and predictions from seasons to decades. We invite papers that summarize key results of large multinational projects as well as papers that highlight recent advances and breakthroughs. We particularly encourage the participation of early career scientists, as well as the participation of scientists researching topics from the tropics to the poles and from the deep oceans to the stratosphere. In presenting cutting-edge research advances, the session will stimulate rich discussions during both oral and poster presentations.
001 - Upper Ocean Turbulent Fields and Their Variability: temperature, salinity, energy
The oceans effect on weather and climate is mediated by processes occurring in the few tens of meters of water bordering the ocean surface. The session address issues in the upper oceanic turbulence of temperature, salinity, energy observations and their numerical simulations. Advances in oceanic instrumentation permit for high resolution of spatial and temporal sampling of upper ocean turbulent fields. In addition the steadily advancing resolution of numerical models allows for their output interpretation in terms of oceanic measurements. The aim of the session is to bring together scientists working with observations and models with the goal of forming coherent picture of the upper ocean turbulent fields, to understand their impact on the oceanic mixed layer and to address their climatological implications.
Surrounding the inter-basin warm pool, air-sea interaction and time-varying ocean circulations in the tropical western Pacific, eastern Indian Ocean and marginal seas are critically important for regional and global climate variability. This session seeks contributions with topics including oceanic circulation variability in the tropical western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean, interactions with the extra-tropics, low-latitude western boundary currents, the Indonesian Throughflow, and upper ocean processes and air-sea interactions associated with the warm pool and Asia monsoon. The session will cover signals of all timescales from diurnal, intra-seasonal, inter-annual to decadal. This session intends to provide a forum for coordinating on-going and planned observational and modeling efforts relating to climate variations in the tropical western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean.
The feedback between ocean and atmosphere is a critical aspect of weather and climate prediction. However, the diversity of length and time scales, the complexity of the physical phenomena and the inherent numerical difficulties make simulation and validation difficult. The session will address understanding and simulating ocean-atmosphere interactions on various scales and aims to gather the latest observations and modeling efforts directed toward understanding the ocean, atmosphere and coupled processes involved. Among these the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) plays a crucial role in weather and climate (e.g., hurricane activity, ENSO and monsoon) and in their prediction. It causes large amplitude variability in tropical ocean circulation and biological activities. But our ability of simulating and predicting the MJO is severely limited due to model misrepresentation of processes key to the MJO. To this end, the recently conducted CINDY2011/DYNAMO field campaigns, which are augmented by other field programs (AMIE, HARIMAU, PAC3E-SA, ONR air-sea interaction), collected invaluable observational datasets in the region of the tropical Indian Ocean where in situ observations are lack, whereas this region is important for the MJO initiation. Contributions from these programs are solicited, as well as contributions about related coupled ocean-atmosphere processes including the jet stream, tropical cyclone path and ENSO simulation and prediction.
The International SOLAS program is a decade-long International Geosphere- Biosphere Program (IGBP) core research initiative directed at understanding and quantifying the key biogeochemical-physical interactions and feedbacks between the ocean and atmosphere. Success with this program is essential in describing the significance of ocean-atmosphere interactions in climate regulation and global change. This session solicits recent research results and synthesis papers focused on two closely related and critical air-sea processes identified in the SOLAS mid- term strategy (http://www.solas- int.org/about/mid-term- strategy.html) as requiring special international coordination for progress: (1) Ocean-derived aerosols: production, evolution and impacts, and (2) Atmospheric control of nutrient cycling and production in the surface ocean. Pairing these two topics will promote interaction between the diverse SOLAS community required to examine feedbacks between biological productivity, air-sea exchange of organic and nutrient material, and the critical atmospheric transformations and impacts required for understanding these processes in the context of climate and global change. Abstract submissions are encouraged that focus on all aspects related to these two SOLAS initiatives including but not limited to measurements and modeling of marine aerosol production, composition and evolution, as well as contributions linking temporal and spatial variations in atmospheric deposition, ocean productivity and nutrient cycling.
112 - Tropical Cyclone-Ocean Interactions: from Weather to Climate
Tropical Cyclone (TC) Ocean interactions are critical processes for TC intensity change because the ocean is the energy source for TCs. The air-sea interaction processes involve energy and momentum exchange between TC and the ocean and are important in both TC (i.e., short-term) and climate (i.e., long-term) timescales. In the TC timescale, TC-ocean interactions are critical to intensity forecasting. The intense TC wind also made significant impact to the ocean through entrainment mixing and upwelling. In climate timescale, how the future ocean will evolve has strong implications for future TC activity projection and consequential societal impact. Meanwhile, natural inter-annual (e.g., ENSO) and inter-decadal (e.g., the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation) and global warming also affect the ocean, TC, and their interactions. This session welcomes submissions under the broad discipline of TC-ocean physical and biogeochemical interactions from weather to climate timescales. It intends to provide a friendly platform for interactions among oceanographers, atmospheric scientists, and climatologists in this multi- disciplinary field.
142 - Understanding and simulating ENSO in past, present and future climates
The past three decades have witnessed substantial progress in understanding the El Nino - Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, yet several questions remain open. These include the response of ENSO to global warming, the realism of ENSO simulation in climate models, the limits of ENSO predictability, its interaction with other modes of variability, and the state of ENSO during past climates . Furthermore, no two observed El Nino events have been alike: ENSO events seem to occur in different flavors, warm and cold events have asymmetric amplitude and duration, and ENSO exhibits large multi-decadal changes in amplitude. Progress is needed to understand the physical processes generating this continuum of climate variability. Are these processes adequately simulated in state-of-the-art climate models? Are these features robust across the hierarchy of models? We welcome contributions advancing the understanding of the response of ENSO to altered climates, the origin of ENSO flavors, the predictability of ENSO, asymmetries in the initiation and termination of warm and cold events, the decadal modulation of ENSO amplitude, and interactions between ENSO and other modes of climate variability. Of particular interest are studies that use a hierarchy of models, and a broad range of observational evidence of ENSO changes, from paleoclimate to present-day satellite observations.
Biogeochemistry and Nutrients
010 - Physical and biogeochemical ocean modeling: development, assessment and applications
Physical and biogeochemical numerical ocean models of varying complexity are used routinely by many oceanographers. Ocean models are often coupled to other models, such as sea-ice, land-ice and atmospheric models. This session provides a forum to discuss the “science behind the science†of ocean model development and associated fields. This can include, but is not limited to: discretization techniques, basic algorithm development, physical approximations, subgridscale parameterization development, methodologies for code development, standardization and distribution, coupling issues, data assimilation techniques, the development of test cases for model assessment, parameter sensitivity studies, results from model assessment and inter-comparison, the innovative use and application of ocean model code and studies that highlight successes, deficiencies or biases in model code, approximations or parameterizations.
023 - Mechanisms of biogeochemical variability in the global oceans
Studies over the past decade have shown that the physical environment plays a large role in establishing the basin-scale patterns of biogeochemical and carbon cycling and in impacting their temporal variability. Recent investigations in the subpolar and subtropical regions have illustrated that primary productivity and the carbon sink are impacted by changes in Ekman fluxes, mode water formation, nutrient induction and the structure of the wind-driven gyre. In the tropics, upwelling, biological activity, and CO2 outgassing vary in response to changes in trade wind strength, equatorial wave activity, thermocline depth, and micro and macronutrient supply to the photic zone. We invite contributions to this session that use proxy data, instrumental records, and/or model outputs to investigate how physical variability has modified marine biogeochemistry and carbon cycling in recent decades. Interdisciplinary research blending observational, paleoceanographic, and modeling perspectives is of particular interest.
063 - Changes in the global ocean carbon cycle: From observations to models
The ocean carbon cycle is changing at a rate and magnitude that we are only beginning to quantify and understand. The uptake of anthropogenic CO2 from the atmosphere, coupled with climate fluctuations and long- term trends in ocean circulation and biology have already led to substantial changes in the ocean carbon cycle, with potentially larger changes still to be realized. Over the least three decades, substantial efforts have been undertaken to measure these changes, and a number of projects are underway to synthesize them in the context of climate variability and anthropogenically induced change. This session aims to bring together the scientists working on these synthesis projects, especially those directly or indirectly using data from the global Repeat Hydrography Program. However, the session is open to all other scientists who are interested in developing an integrated view of how the ocean carbon cycle has changed in the recent decades. Of interest are data syntheses, analyses and modeling studies focusing on air-sea CO2 fluxes, changes in ocean surface and interior carbon inventories, and how the changes in these processes are related to each other.
Large scale and long term studies have uncovered dramatic variations in upper ocean biology and biogeochemistry. Variations of this nature are a sum of short-term or small- scale processes, many of which are understudied and, thereby, poorly represented in extant models. Thorough evaluation of coupled physical-biogeochemical models incorporating short and long- term scales requires both field measurements and satellite data. This is especially true in coastal regions where short-term physical forcing (e.g., sunlight, winds, river discharge, tides, currents, etc.) can substantially alter biological activity and rates of key biogeochemical processes. Several new advancements of in- situ and remote ocean technologies are increasing our ability to study the dynamics of physical forces and their effects on biological processes at the required spatiotemporal scales (hourly to daily, meter to kilometer). Using such technologies, we seek a better understanding of organismal roles in changing elemental cycles, accurate estimates of ocean production, improved IPCC projections and more intelligent fisheries management. This session is focused on, but not limited to, the presentation of papers on the following topics: high-resolution physicochemical and biological observations using: 1) traditional and recently developed in situ platforms, 2) high frequency biological and geochemical data from existing and planned geostationary satellite platforms; 3) incorporation of newly resolved information into regional and global-scale models.
High Latitudes
The Arctic is one of the regions where the effect of climate change is most pronounced and currently significant transformations occur. The most striking physical changes are associated with diminishing sea ice extent and thickness, melting permafrost, enhanced rates of coastal erosion and increasing freshwater discharge into the Arctic Ocean. Understanding the response of Arctic marine ecosystems to these changes and how they might alter biogeochemical processes and the biological carbon pump, requires the integration of physical, biological and chemical oceanographic studies across a range of temporal and spatial scales. Integrating modeling and observations will identify linkages and feedbacks between atmosphere-ice-ocean forcing and biological-geochemical processes and will subsequently improve the prediction of future scenarios. Here, we seek interdisciplinary data and synthesis products that elucidate the current status of the physical and biogeochemical processes in the Arctic marine system on regional and global scales, how feedbacks and controls could change these systems and ultimately, what new conditions might be present in the Arctic on decadal and longer time scales.
The polar ocean is one of the regions where the effect of climate change is most pronounced and currently significant transformations occur. Progressive warming of the Earth's climate contributed to a rapid decline in sea ice extent and thickness, melting permafrost, enhanced rates of coastal erosion and increasing freshwater discharge into the Arctic Ocean. Ozone depletion and greenhouse forcing have also altered atmospheric winds, circulation and sea ice distribution of the Southern Ocean. Understanding the response of polar marine ecosystems to these changes and how they might alter biogeochemical processes and the biological carbon pump, requires the integration of physical, biological and chemical oceanographic studies across a range of temporal and spatial scales. Understanding the carbon cycling and associated biogeochemical processes and their susceptibility to climate change is critical to understanding carbon-climate feedback and the role of polar oceans in climate change. In this session we invite contributions that will help elucidate the impact of climate trends and variability on the release and uptake of greenhouse gases (not only carbon dioxide but also nitrous oxide and methane) and the relevant physical and biogeochemical processes in the polar oceans. We aim to bring together multi-disciplinary expertise obtained from analysis of ecological and biogeochemical datasets, in-situ and remote sensing observations, and numerical simulations of present and future climatic scenarios.
The Southern Ocean, south of 30°S, is a key player in the climate system. The region accounts for a disproportionate share of the vertical exchange of heat, carbon and nutrients between the deep ocean, the surface ocean and the atmosphere. The physical processes occurring in the Southern Ocean are important for the thermohaline circulation, for the deep stratification of the global ocean and for the Antarctic ice shelf. This session will present new results based on modeling, theoretical and/or observational efforts that investigate all aspects of the Southern Ocean, including its biogeochemical processes, large-scale and mesoscale circulations, lateral and vertical mixing, response to atmospheric forcing, as well as ocean-atmosphere and ocean-ice interactions.
124 - Boundary currents, eddies, and water mass transformation at high latitudes
It has become increasingly apparent that boundary currents and related eddy formation processes play a key role in water mass transformation and the meridional transport of heat, fresh water, and other tracers at high latitudes. We invite submissions that address the dynamics of boundary currents and eddy formation processes, their role in large-scale budgets of mass, heat, and fresh water, and their contribution towards the meridional overturning circulation. Areas of interest include the Nordic Seas, the Labrador Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and other dynamically similar regions. Observational, theoretical, and modelling submissions are all encouraged.
Oceanic exchanges of mass, heat and freshwater between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean are closely linked to the ocean, sea ice and atmosphere dynamics in Fram Strait, the largest Atlantic-Arctic gateway. Fram Strait plays a crucial role not only as a conduit of the Atlantic and Arctic origin water masses, but also as the location of dynamical interactions between ocean, sea ice and atmosphere that have a strong impact on ocean circulation, environmental conditions, and marine life in the transition region between the North Atlantic and high Arctic. During the last two decades, extensive observational programs in Fram Strait provided a wealth of new, multidisciplinary data, collected continuously and with up-to-date technologies. The main goal of this session is to describe recent changes observed in the ocean, sea ice and environmental conditions in Fram Strait and to discuss their links to the large scale ocean and climate changes in the Arctic region. The session will also stress the importance of continuous, long-term observations in this region to understanding the changing dynamics associated with recent Arctic warming and the use of the environment by marine life. Multidisciplinary presentations, integrating physical, biological and biogeochemical observations and modeling studies, are encouraged.
Physical Oceanography/Ocean Circulation
019 - Deep ocean changes and their contributions to sea level rise
Sea level rise has been seen as a major threat to low-lying coastal communities through enhanced beach erosion, storm surge, saltwater intrusion and other effects. Recent studies have shown a widespread warming in the world's deep ocean that may have significantly contributed to the global sea level rise over the past decades, but the controls of such changes remain elusive. Changes in the rates and/or characteristics of deep ocean water mass formation and associated overturning circulation patterns have been suggested. This session attempts to convey the progress that has been made in understanding of the upper-ocean and deep-ocean changes and their connections, and to provide a forum for discussion on their implications for climate. Contributions dealing with thermohaline stratification and circulation changes pertaining to regional and global climate variability based on observations and/or numerical models are welcome. Projections of future sea rise in both global and regional scales have even more dramatic implications. Research reports in the related aspects are practically welcome.
This session seeks contributions exploring large-scale ocean circulation variability through synergetic analyses of Argo profiling floats, satellite altimetry and other observational data. The session topics include, but are not limited to, interannual and decadal ocean circulation variability, regional and steric sea level change, boundary currents, water mass properties and overturning circulation. Contributions involving innovative analyses of multiple data sources and data assimilated products, are particularly encouraged.
058 - Mesoscale ocean processes and their representation in earth system models
Mesoscale processes influence biological production, mixing, and dissipation of momentum in the ocean. Although a significant fraction of ocean kinetic energy involved in ocean circulation is related to these processes, their intrinsic dynamics, including details of their three-dimensional structure, sources, and life cycle, are not fully understood and remain poorly resolved in general circulation models. Parameterization schemes are commonly used to approximate their effects on physical and biogeochemical components of ocean models, but the sensitivity of regional and global scale dynamics to alternate parameterizations and improved resolution remains unclear. This session invites reports on observational, modeling, and theoretical studies of the dynamics of mesoscale eddies, Rossby waves, major fronts, jets, striations, and beta-plumes. We also encourage discussion of rectified effects and potential feedbacks between these ocean processes and other components of the earth system (e.g., between ocean physical and biological processes), representation of these feedbacks in general circulation models, and examination of model sensitivity to changing resolution and parameterizations. We aim to elucidate the effects of increased model and process resolution on the representation of time-averaged physical and biogeochemical processes in earth system models and explore hypotheses concerning their dynamical response to projected changes in climate over the coming centuries.
071 - Frontiers of oceanographic data and methods
From space to the deep ocean, from the microscale to the global scale, the diversity, accuracy, and resolution of oceanographic data have exploded in recent years. At the same time, lines of inquiry have progressed to ever smaller and more refined scales, testing the limits of existing measurement platforms and data products. In particular, climate- and ecosystem-related questions require not only global coverage, but also high degrees of confidence in measured fields. The goal of this session is to create a forum for presenting innovations, identifying challenges, and exchanging ideas on ways to deal with oceanographic data, both observational and modeled, at all levels from instrumentation design to analysis methods to data product construction. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: challenges and possibilities of observing the ocean using new measurement platforms, e.g. gliders and AUVs; novel uses of existing datasets; new possibilities for remote sensing of the ocean; construction of synthesized data products, such as mapped hydrographic fields or near- inertial energy; mathematical and statistical techniques for oceanographic applications, including mapping methods, time series analysis, and covariance analysis; and considerations of noise sources, errors, or statistical confidence in oceanographic measurements.
073 - Ocean salinity and water cycle variability and change
The session aims to highlight research investigating ocean variability and change using observations and models. A key focus of this session is ocean salinity (alongside temperature and other ocean-state variables), an important driver of ocean circulation and a key indicator of the global water cycle. Topic areas: Satellite salinity (Aquarius/SMOS) Salinity Processes in the Upper ocean Regional Study (SPURS) Ocean variability (observations and models) Ocean change (observations and models) Water cycle (Ocean links with the atmosphere - observations and models) Consideration of ocean salinity is timely - new observing platforms are providing new salinity data that extend the scope of ocean and climate research. The SMOS and AQUARIUS/SAC-D satellites present an unprecedented opportunity to study surface salinity and its relation to ocean circulation and the water cycle. Satellites are complementing in-situ observations from the Argo array, and the ongoing process-oriented field experiment SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study, 2012- 2013) in the salinity maximum of the North Atlantic. Recent observations, along with historical measurements, are revolutionizing the view of the ocean on short (hourly, daily to seasonal) and longer (climate, greater than 30-year) timescales.
129 - The 3-Dimensional Velocity Field in the Ocean
In spite of the fact that the velocity field in the ocean is fully three-dimensional, the vertical component is quite challenging to measure and model. Vertical velocities are important for ocean dynamics on a vast range of spatial and temporal scales, as their impacts range from the dissipation scale of turbulence to the global overturning circulation. In addition to directly influencing transport of pollutants, biogeochemical tracers and larvae of many marine organisms, e.g. by formation of fronts and convergence zones, vertical velocities are dynamically significant for a variety of physical oceanographic processes, including deep convection and hydrothermal plumes, overflows and gravity currents, as well as internal waves and tides. We solicit papers on any kind of study related to the three-dimensional velocity field in the ocean, including measurements, numerical modeling and theory.
137 - North Atlantic ocean dynamics: from natural fluctuations to externally forced response
The North Atlantic is a key player in the climate system due to its important role in the global ocean circulation and in the uptake of heat and carbon. The North Atlantic ocean fluctuates on a wide variety of timescales making it difficult to separate the low-frequency natural variations from the anthropogenic forced response. This session aims to further our understanding of the processes underlying the dynamics and variability of ocean properties in the North Atlantic. We are soliciting contributions that present observational, theoretical and/or modelling results. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: processes relevant to the dynamics of the meridional overturning circulation, ocean-atmosphere coupled dynamics, regional sea level change, sensitivity of the ocean dynamics to forcing and natural and forced predictability.
Ocean Observing, Sensing Technology, and Data Management
The deep ocean plays a vital role in the climate system and for biodiversity on Earth. It is pacing climate change through storage and cycling of heat, carbon and greenhouse gases. It is home to a plethora of organisms and ecosystems providing diverse functions and services. Far from being a quiescent, buffered system, it may respond quickly and in complex ways to powerful environmental and human perturbations over different spatial and temporal scales. Consequences of physical and biogeochemical changes and in the re-structuring of deep-sea biological communities and their function remain poorly observed. Ocean parameters and their variability below 2000 m are collected or inferred globally through a sparse set of oceanographic transects, from isolated moorings, and satellites measuring a limited set of integrated properties. We must bridge fundamental gaps in our understanding of the deep ocean, uncertainties regarding its spatial and temporal heterogeneities, as well as its role-in and responses to- climate change and human activities. Contributions are encouraged that describe advances in our knowledge of the deep ocean, present emerging observation capabilities and technologies, quantify requirements, lay out design strategies for deep-ocean observations of climate quality, climate-ecosystem interaction, or highlight current uncertainties through model or data assimilation-based studies.
085 - Towards a Global Ocean Biogeochemical Observing System Based on Profiling Floats and Gliders
Profiling floats and gliders that are equipped with biogeochemical sensors are a rapidly evolving technology that enables observations throughout the global ocean in synergy with the Argo program. They provide data at scales that cannot be achieved by shipboard observations. Biogeochemical sensors are now available that can monitor key variables such as oxygen, nutrients, pH, chlorophyll, particulate organic carbon and all have been deployed for extended periods from floats and/or gliders. These systems would enable a cost effective global observation system that would greatly reduce the uncertainties in our estimation of elemental (C, N, O) fluxes at the global scale and our ability to detect change in these processes. In this session we welcome presentation related to such an emerging global observation system. These may range from the development of new sensors with the potential of global applications, to the design of observational experimental network through OSSE's, to science highlights resulting from dataset analysis acquired by float and gliders. Presentations that highlight the combination of remotely acquired in situ and satellite data to develop a 3D/4D vision of the ocean, or the use of these data with biogeochemical models are particularly relevant. Presentations with an education/outreach component are encouraged.
115 - Ocean Climate Data Records and Reconstructions: Techniques and Applications
The National Research Council (2004) defines a Climate Data Record (CDR) as a time series of sufficient duration, quality, and continuity to accurately determine climate variability and change. For satellite-based CDRs, GCOS provides requirements in the form of essential climate variables (ECV) that share several characteristics including being long-term, consistently processed, highly accurate, and produced with associated uncertainties using systems that combine sustained, ongoing capacity with the latest community consensus science knowledge and best practices. Reconstructions are a specialized form of a CDR, which make use of the typically sparse in situ data prior to about 1950 and techniques for data reconstruction to combine the long temporal span of historical measurements with the near- global coverage of satellite measurements or model data. Both satellite and in situ- based CDRs and reconstructions support a wide range of applications including climate change monitoring and numerical prediction, coral bleaching and disease, the oceans and human disease outbreaks, ocean circulation, and sea level change. Educational and operational applications involving interpretation of real-time information are also enabled and improved by the climatological context provided by CDRs and reconstructions. This session seeks to facilitate discussion between those who create CDRs and reconstructions and the scientists who use them. Presentations are welcomed that describe methods for Fundamental and Thematic CDR production; the development and production of reconstructions; the status of existing CDRs and reconstructions for the ocean and overlying atmosphere; the challenges associated with determining uncertainties; and applications of the CDRs and reconstructed datasets. The CDRs and reconstructions may be those derived from in situ data, remotely-sensed observations, models, or a combination of methods, and include those related to any oceanographic discipline.
The biogeochemistry of the ocean varies across a range of time and space scales, with anthropogenic forcing contributing an added layer of complexity. In a growing effort to distinguish between natural and human-induced earth system variability, sustained ocean time-series measurements have taken on a renewed importance. Shipboard biogeochemical time-series programs provide the oceanographic community with the multi-year, high-quality data needed for characterizing ocean biogeochemistry and ecosystem variability. They represent one of the most valuable tools scientists have to characterize and quantify ocean carbon fluxes and their associated links to a changing climate. A series of U.S. and international workshops focused on the scientific accomplishments and new directions of ocean time-series have been carried out over the past 4 years. The last one, held in November 2012, focused on methodological approaches and aimed to facilitate data intercomparability among time-series and across ocean basins. In this session, we welcome contributions based on studies that use time-series data, particularly those that interconnect time-series sites. We also encourage presentations on insights gained from methodological challenges encountered when comparing data from two or more time-series and methodological experiments or intercomparison activities that could improve biogeochemical sampling and analytical protocols.
Past, Present and Future Climate
The role of the oceans in climate change on decadal and century- long time-scales is still barely understood. One of the main problems is the limited data basis. Observational records of environmental variables from the marine realm are spatially incomplete and cover only short time intervals. For example, sea surface temperature measurements are scarce prior to about 1860. Uninterrupted records of sea surface salinity barely exist for more than the last decade. Even less is known from deeper water settings below the thermocline. High-resolution and long- term records of environmental variables from marine settings are an indispensable requirement for developing and testing quantitative climate models. And that’s exactly what the oral and poster presentations of this session are focusing on: naturally occurring, high-resolution climate archives with a broad spatial coverage and modern climate modeling approaches. Contributions of this session demonstrate the potential of high- resolution marine climate archives and include well-established and newly explored proxy records: tropical corals, mollusk shells, sclerosponges, coralline algae and others. The presentations cover all major climate phenomena: ENSO, the Asian monsoon, the tropical Atlantic variability, NAO, the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability and the PDO.
118 - Extreme oceanographic events: windows to the climate future?
Climate change is altering ocean conditions, and both marine organisms and fisheries exhibit complex responses to these changes. While much attention has focused on rising mean temperatures, increases in the frequency and magnitude of extreme events are also consistent with a warming climate and may exert stronger ecological and societal impacts. Understanding the impact of extreme events on ecosystems may be more important than characterizing changes in mean conditions, but they have received less attention by the research community. Extreme oceanographic events, such as the 2012 "heat wave" in the Northwest Atlantic or upwelling of acidic water onto the western North American continental shelf, have triggered rapid biological and ecological responses that have affected important fisheries and other ecosystem services. These types of extreme events may provide unique windows into how climate change will affect marine ecosystems and offer lessons to guide management strategies in the face of increased environmental variability. This session will examine cases of extreme oceanographic conditions to develop an integrated, cross-disciplinary understanding of: (1) their physical nature and drivers, (2) their biological, ecological, and socio-economic consequences, and (3) their implications for resource and ecosystem management under rapid environmental change.