The Nansen Legacy

Informations

Funding country

Norway

Acronym

-

URL

-

Start date

1/1/2018

End date

12/31/2024

Budget

44,603,859 EUR

Fundings

Abstract

Arctic sea ice extent is decreasing; new ice-free seas emerge. At the center of this change is the northern Barents Sea. The Nansen Legacy project (2018-2024) aims to understand how retreating sea ice alters the ecosystem in the northern Barents Sea and the adjacent deep Arctic Basin. This requires a holistic understanding of complex interactions between atmosphere, sea ice, ocean currents, and marine organisms. The Nansen Legacy unites over 250 researchers from various science disciplines and 10 Norwegian research institutions. The project represents a remarkable Norwegian investment, establishing a scientific foundation for sustainable future management of the Arctic seas. After five years and 20 scientific expeditions to the northern Barents Sea and the deep Arctic Basin, our field component is nearly complete. Two moorings with sensors continue to collect key observations. The research expeditions and moorings aim to map and understand seasonal and interannual variability in the marine ecosystem and the physical drivers of the atmosphere, sea ice and ocean currents. Human impacts on the ecosystem, including contaminants, fisheries, and ocean acidification, were also investigated. New technology is tested and implemented, and Arctic wave, sea ice and weather forecasts have been improved. Geological investigations set the context for today’s climate and its variability, while numerical models predict future climate and ecosystem developments. New findings document a northern Barents Sea region that has been impacted by winter sea ice and Atlantic water since the last glacial period. Climate predictions identify the same region as the first Arctic shelf sea without winter sea ice at the end of this century. The increasingly warmer Atlantic inflow is a key regulator of sea ice and ocean climate in this region, with wind redistributing the sea ice in a more unpredictable way. Reduced heat losses to the atmosphere in the southern Barents Sea increase the heat flux through the Barents Sea and into the Arctic Basin. The ocean temperature amplification here is more than twice the global increase. The ecosystem responds with changes in production and species composition, with northward expansion and new food web structures. Marine heatwaves have increased in frequency and duration and induce step-wise ecosystem responses. Krill, capelin, and cod are winners in adapting to a changing ecosystem, though at the cost of Arctic species. Improved ecosystem models provide important tools exploring how the ecosystem has responded to overfishing and climate variability in the past and how it may change in the future. Model studies combined with historical data find stronger responses to increased temperature, but fisheries may strengthen with these negative climate impacts. Mapping of contaminants in polar cod, capelin, and North Atlantic cod reveal low mercury levels well below the EU guidelines for human consumption. New sensor combinations on AUVs provide improved observations of Polar Front features as well as under-ice algae. Coupling of wave and atmosphere models increased the accuracy in strong wind and large wave forecasts. Better sea ice models identify how fractures in sea ice result in leads and increase heat fluxes. New studies of storm tracks and weather conditions contradict previous findings and find no direct connection between Arctic sea ice and winter weather in central and southern Europe. However, reduced sea ice on the East Greenland shelf can explain extreme precipitation events on Svalbard. Research has been promoted with different user groups including laymen, youth, stakeholders, policy makers, and the general science community. Artists and journalists were informed about field activities, and researchers communicated their science on the Nansen Legacy blog at Forskning.no and sciencenorway.no. Researchers participated in dialog meetings, panel debates, and presented results nationally and abroad. A series of workshops facilitating synthesis, integrating overarching goals and results, and developing future climate and ecosystem scenarios was further improved through internal seminars and in collaboration with stakeholders in the reference group. Courses covering scientific illustration and Darwin Core for publishing biological data have strengthened skills in communication and data sharing. The annual meeting in 2022 inspired good scientific discussions, user dialogues, and career development for early career scientists. The Nansen Legacy is a partnership between the Universities in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Tromsø, UNIS, the Institute of Marine Research, the Norwegian Polar Institute, the Meteorological Institute, the Nansen Environmental Remote Sensing Center, and Akvaplan-niva. The budget is 740 mill NOK, with 50% in-kind from the participating institutions. The Nansen Legacy represents a new collaborative era in solving big and pressing questions. https://arvenetternansen.com