Galway Bay fm newsroom:
An Irish-led team of scientists on board the Marine Institute’s RV Celtic Explorer will return to Galway Harbour today (16 September 2020), after 24 days in the Nordic and Greenland Seas to investigate past climate change in the Arctic region.
Scientists from NUI Galway, University of Southampton UK, University of Bremen, Germany, and Bergen University Norway, have been monitoring and capturing a record of temperature, salinity and the carbonate system
Lead scientist, Dr Audrey Morley, School of Geography and Archaeology, NUI Galway says their research is unique, as they are assessing how essential climate variables have evolved since before pre-industrial conditions.
The survey aims to define a more comprehensive description of the Nordic Seas ecosystem and provide insight into how essential climate variables are recorded in geologic archives.
Dr Morley, NUI Galway says The North Atlantic and Nordic Seas are a key region for the formation of North Atlantic Deepwater and the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide
She adds whether this region remains a carbon sink during rapidly warming climates is a question that remains to be answered.
