AWI-LMU joint research group for Southern Ocean-Climate Interactions (SO-CLIM)

Vision

Our group wants to raise awareness for the important role of the ocean in the Earth’s system and how it is changing to strengthen efforts to limit human influences on the ocean and climate. In particular, with our work, we want to understand the essential Southern Ocean’s role in mitigating global climate change in the past, present, and future, and how this highly sensitive region of our planet responds to climatic changes. 

Background

The Southern Ocean strongly influences the global climate through its interaction with Earth’s carbon and energy budget. This important role arises from the vast exchange of water between the deep ocean and the sea surface that is unprecedented in the global ocean elsewhere. Over past decades, the Southern Ocean has substantially slowed global surface warming by absorbing most of the excess heat in the climate system and a large fraction of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. However, over the past years the Southern Ocean has experienced drastic changes and, to date, it remains uncertain if it will continue to slow down global surface warming in future to the extent that it has been providing such a service in the past.

Mission

While climate models make an important contribution to creating reliable information for decision-makers and society, they still do not represent past observed climatic changes in the Southern Ocean adequately, leading to considerable uncertainties in future projections. In part, these difficulties arise from the inherent challenge to collect observational data in this region and the associated knowledge gap. In our group, we collect and use observational data and deploy numerical models to better understand processes and changes in the Southern Ocean and thus contribute to improving regional and global projections with model simulations.

Projects

SOS-iClimate Logo

How do melting ice masses affect the ocean's ability to mitigate global warming?

How do vertical transport processes, especially convection, change in the Southern Ocean?

Highlights

Alex H. at the Polar Dialogue in Abu Dhabi

Alex H. visited Abu Dhabi for the Polar Dialogue at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, organized by the Arctic Circle and Khalifa University. The reason for the dialogue was the establishing of the Emirates Polar Program that was launched in Nov 2024.  …

Emma at COP29 in Baku

Emma attended the UN World Climate Conference in Baku (COP 29) through the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative. She was able to present her project in the Cryosphere Pavilion. The presentation can still be seen on YouTube. …

Activities

Working group

The German research vessel Polarstern travels through an ice corridor in the central Arctic.

Physical Oceanography

Our section at AWI.
Evening sun in the central Arctic. View of drift and pack ice from on board the German research vessel Polarstern.

Department of Geography

Our allocation at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich.

Team

Associate members & guests

News

15.01.2025 >>> Alex H. visted Abu Dhabi for a Dialogue Meeting at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week

06.01.2025 >>> Léa joined the Malizia Vendée Show on Youtube

23.12.2024 >>> Emma, Léa & Krissy join the HAFOS expedition with RS Polarstern

22.11.2024 >>> Emma visited COP29 in Baku (Azerbaijan)and gave a talk at the Cryosphere Pavillon

14.11.2024 >>> Léa contributed to the Global Carbon Budget 2024

22.10.2024 >>> Group retreat 2024 in Bayrischzell (Bavaria, Germany)

02.09.2024 >>> New group member! Rowan started his PhD in the framework of the VERTEXSO project in our working group