other
Ocean-Climate Nexus consensus statement
The European Marine Board (EMB) together with the Consortium for Ocean Leadership in the US drafted a statement that reflects a consensus view from marine research communities. Ahead of COP21, it highlights the key priorities for ocean research in the context of global change, and its critical role in developing a societal response to climate change.
Read the statement

arctic
Interagency and International Research on North Atlantic-Arctic Oceanographic Processes
In 2013 the EU, the United States and Canada launched a research alliance to combine their Atlantic ocean observation efforts, the Galway Statement. Now the US National Science Foundation (NSF) has published a “Dear Colleague Letter” which provides guidance for US scientists who will request support from the NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE) and Division of Polar Programs (PLR) over the next 18 months to conduct research related to the goals of the research alliance in collaboration with scientists from Canada or the EU.
Further information

high impact events
Strong El Niño to last until spring 2016
Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies during September were well above average in the central and eastern Pacific, finds the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA. Observed atmospheric wind anomalies and the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) are also consistent with a strong El Niño. Models predict the event to peak in late autumn/early winter and to slowly weaken through Spring 2016. The event is linked to weather anomalies across the globe, yet its consequences for Europe are less clear.
More information

sea level
Sea Level Change for Norway: Past and Present Observations and Projections to 2100
This report presents the current understanding of past and present observed sea level changes for Norway, and provides sea level projections up until 2100. It shows that 20th century sea level rise in Norway is consistent with the global average and discusses contributions to the change and variability, as well as the rate of sea level rise over different time periods.
Further information

hydrological cycles
Heavy precipitation events increased under climate change
Researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany found that the number of record-breaking rainfall events significantly increased over 1981-2010 on a global average. Using a statistical model they explain the increase with the increased water holding capacity of a warmer atmosphere. The number of precipitation events from 1901-1980 on the other hand can be attributed to natural variability.
Read the article

Ahead of COP21
With the climate change conference to begin on 30 November in Paris, the EU’s negotiating position includes two central goals: a clear pathway for staying below 2°C warming and to scale up their contribution to fill the Green Climate Fund with $100 billion per year for adaptation in developing countries. Furthermore, a new UN report was published that analyses the aggregate effect of the 146 national climate action plans that have been submitted. If these “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions" (INDCs) are implemented, greenhouse gas emissions would peak and start to decrease during the next decade. Meanwhile, a European Environment Agency (EEA) report revealed that the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 23% between 1990 and 2014 – an overachievement of its 2020 20% target. Lastly, some of the European FP7 funded research project results that support policymakers in the negotiation process are presented by CORDIS here.

joint research centre (jrc)
Launch of Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre
The European Commission has launched a new in-house centre to help EU Member States respond to emergencies and prevent and reduce the impact of disasters. Among its activities, the Centre will offer EU countries technical and scientific advice on their risk assessment methodologies. It will also develop an online repository of relevant research results and operational outcomes, and create a network of crisis management laboratories.
Further information

Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2016/17 officially published
The final version of the work programme for the coming two years has been made available, including the Societal Challenge 5 (SC5) “Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials”. The first deadlines are in January 2016. Also, there is a new call for proposals under the Erasmus+ Programme called “Support for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises engaging in apprenticeship”.
See the documents
See the call
More on SC5 on the ECRA Homepage

New Centre of Excellence in Simulation of Weather and Climate in Europe (ESiWACE)
This initiative aims to “improve efficiency and productivity of numerical weather and climate simulation on high-performance computing [HPC] platforms by supporting the end-to-end workflow of global Earth system modelling in HPC environment”. An international workshop on HPC launched the €4.9 million project, which is coordinated by the German Climate Computing Centre and will run for four years.
More information

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