Tel: 00 47 55 58 2565, Fax: 00 47 55 58 4330, Email: Richard.Bellerby@gfi.uib.no, 1Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Allégt. 55, Bergen, Norway, 2Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Allégt. 70, Bergen, Norway, 3Department of Analytical and Marine Chemistry, Göteborg University, S-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden, 4Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Edvard Griegsvei 3a, N-5059 Bergen, Norway, 5Institute of Ocean Sciences, P.O. Box 6000, Sidney, B.C. V8L 4B2, Canada, 6Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 74 Magruder Road, Sandy Hook, Highlands, NJ 07732, USA and 7Institute for Marine Research, P.O. Box 1870, Nordnes, N-5817 Bergen, Norway
The
Chemical Oceanography group at the University of Bergen was initiated in 1992
and has grown and matured under the auspices of JGOFS orientated research. This
paper provides an overview of the North Atlantic/Nordic Seas research
undertaken at the University of Bergen during the JGOFS years through shipboard
campaigns and in situ monitoring to synthesis and predictive modelling.
Regular
measurement activities have identified the seasonal and interannual variability
of the surface CO2-system and modelling has shown the sensitivity of
air-sea carbon exchange to changes in NAO. Time series measurements of fCO2
have enabled the anthropogenic carbon response of the surface waters to be
quantified. Carbon budgets and GCM models have shown the transport of natural
carbon and anthropogenic carbon exchange between the Nordic Seas and the North
Atlantic, aided through the incorporation of deliberate tracers within the
Greenland Gyre. Simulations from the Bergen Climate Model have provided
scenarios of the Nordic Seas CO2-system response to climate change
during the next century.
A strong research group, a comprehensive array of state-of-the-art instrumentation, a new research ship and the recent inauguration of the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research as a Norwegian ‘Centre of Excellence’ ensure that Norwegian CO2-system research will continue to develop and prosper from the springboard that was the JGOFS program.