Marie Curie Actions aid climate change project

The Marie Curie Actions have assisted in research tackling climate change. Scientists carried out the research on redistributing and controlling heat around the globe off the coast of South Africa. The investigation was made possible through the GATEWAYS Marie-Curie Actions project (‘Multi-level Assessment of Ocean-Climate Dynamics: A Gateway to Interdisciplinary Training and Analysis’).

It is thought the Agulhas current influences climate change by affecting the northward flow of the Gulf Stream as well as influencing extreme weather events in the region, which can affect areas as far away as the Indian Ocean.

In comments carried on the EU’s CORDIS website, project co-ordinator Professor Rainer Zahn, from the Institute of Environmental Science & Technology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, said: “The project is innovative because it combines new and established analytical methodologies not normally available in single research projects. It links modern ocean and climatic processes with the analysis of materials collected from water column sampling and sediment traps in order to verify the degree to which the collected materials represent ocean processes.”

The MCAs have helped the scientists to use new modelling techniques to discover the impact the atmosphere can have on the Indian-Atlantic Ocean corridor and influenced the way the team analysed wind-driven ocean currents.

The GATEWAYS consortium includes scientists from several European countries as well as Israel and South Africa.