On June 8 2020, we celebrate the World Oceans Day, which this year focuses on inviting world leaders to protect 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030 – a campaign called 30×30. By safeguarding at least 30% of our ocean through a network of highly protected areas, we can help ensure a healthy home for both marine and human life.
The World Ocean Day will be the opportunity to discover the CMCC research in this field. The CMCC provides numerical data, analysis, tailor made products, and tools that are available for national, European and international services and end-users at the forefront of ocean forecasts for global, regional and coastal areas. From interactive maps to participation in global policy initiatives, the CMCC research interacts with the marine environment and the socio-economic world at sea.
Being aware of the importance of the study of the Ocean in its many aspects – including physics, biogeochemistry, and marine/coastal ecosystems – the CMCC has enhanced its capacity to develop information produced by scientific research capable of using advanced technologies to provide forecasts. Since 2019, the new CMCC website provides access to ocean forecasting systems at different geographical scales, including global, regional, and coastal. The Global Ocean Forecasting System makes analysis and short-term forecasts for the Global Ocean available daily. The CMCC Mediterranean Forecasting System (MFS) is a numerical ocean prediction system that produces analyses and short-term forecasts for the entire Mediterranean Sea and its areas adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the past sea sate reconstruction, called re-analysis. In addition, the Black Sea Forecasting System (BS) produces ocean forecasting for the entire Black Sea.
These systems are part of the Copernicus Marine Service (CMEMS) MFS and are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Ocean models for the next generation of CMEMS are the focus of the IMMERSE project. The project aims to ensure continued access to world-class marine modelling tools for CMEMS’ next-generation systems whilst leveraging advances in space and information technologies, and therefore allowing it to address the ever-increasing and evolving demands for marine monitoring and prediction in the 2020s and beyond.
CMCC focus on the coastal ocean has recently achieved important results with the development of high resolution coastal forecasting systems within Marine-eo projects in European Coastal areas, and specifically in Italy in Impressive H2020 project and SAGACE. The high resolution forecasting system for the Southern Adriatic Sea and Northern Ionian Sea (SANIFS) provide ocean products for currents, temperature and sea level to support application for Blue Growth (Aquaculture, marine spatial planning, tourism, sports) and maritime safety (oil spill, search and rescue).
Marine Litter and oil pollution are considered major threats to the Ocean. A CMCC team of scientists contributed to an assessment of marine litter pollution in the Mediterranean Sea.
The role of ocean biogeochemistry in negative emission technologies is the topic of DESARC-MARESANUS, a project that started in 2019 involving the Politecnico di Milano and the CMCC Foundation with the support of Amundi and the collaboration of CO2APPS. CMCC researchers explore the contribution of alkalization processes in the decrease of ocean acidification in the Mediterranean Sea, whilst at the same time increasing CO2 removal from the atmosphere evaluating different strategies.
On 25 September 2019, the IPCC released the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) based on an assessment of available scientific, technical and socio-economic literature relevant to the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate. CMCC scientist Momme Butenschön participated in the report as a contributing author, and a series of initiatives including infographics, press releases, news, and social media activities were used to disseminate the key outcomes of the SROCC to the Italian public.
CMCC Scientific Papers
Explore our scientific papers on the Ocean topic here
The IPCC Special Report “The Ocean and Cryosphere in a changing climate”.
Read in Italian all the documents available on the IPCC Focal Point for Italy website.
Look at the infographic by CMCC inspired by the IPCC report.
CMCC Studies, Projects, Articles
North pole soon to be ice free in summer
Oil spill: where and when will it reach the beach? Answers to prevent environmental impacts
Rivers: how they contribute to better understand the Mediterranean Sea dynamics
Tropical cyclones: how they contribute to better forecast in the Maritime Continent
Removing CO2 from the atmosphere and the Desarc-Maresanus project
The Atlantic Ocean fingerprint on the climate of the Middle East
CMCC Webinars
The role of typhoons in the drying of the Maritime Continent
M2 internal-tide generation in STORMTIDE2
Climate change impacts on agriculture, forestry, fisheries and coastal areas: insights from COACCH
Decadal predictability of North Atlantic blocking and the NAO
Impacts assessment in marine areas: the case study of the Adriatic Sea
IMMERSE user remote workshop on interfaces
How rivers influence the Mediterranean dynamics?
Photo by will terra on Unsplash
