Introduction: Why Monitoring Our Oceans Matters.

Hello dear readers, I hope you are in the mood to learn all about how ocean monitoring helps us battle global warming, because that is indeed what we will do today!

Understanding the state of the ocean is essential to our future. How can we fight climate change if we don’t understand the disturbances it causes to our planet? The ocean is a complex system. Having said that, we should be aware that to gain a clear idea of how human activity is affecting it, we must closely monitor its changes.

How can we do this? This is where monitoring comes in.

Scientific sampling tools such as satellite remote sensing, can track changes in ocean currents and identify areas with high concentrations of plastic debris. This information is vital for developing effective strategies to combat plastic pollution and protect our seas.

One of the biggest challenges of monitoring oceans is the need for a large number of individuals to take samples all over the world. Thanks to the  Likemysea Project, funded by Probleu, we can contribute to the monitoring of our oceans through citizen science. (If you want, you can check out our October edition of the newsletter, where we explain all about citizen science.)

The mission of this project is to obtain important information on how climate change is affecting our oceans in both Barcelona and Split, Croatia. It also aims to raise awareness and increase sensitivity toward an important topic—the protection of our beloved oceans.

Thanks to the collaboration of IB (International Baccalaureate) students from both Barcelona and Croatia, we were able to conduct various ocean sampling activities through this project, which will be explained in detail later in this newsletter.

Let's get to it!

Celebrating Student Involvement

For the first time since the beginning of our LikeMySea project in October, this newsletter has been developed thanks to an international cooperation between students from Voramar School in Barcelona and Split International School in Dugopolje, Croatia. The fostering of a European collaboration improves the quality of the gathered data, as it is collected from different locations, and creates a sense of international mindedness, key component of the International Baccalaureate® curriculum. 

As mentioned previously in the introduction, the ocean sampling activities have been conducted by students from both Spain and Croatia. We would like to highlight this cooperation, as it provides a basis for developing a citizen science since early stages of life. Not only we learn through conducting tests and experiments, we also contribute to the scientific community by collecting trustworthy and varied—both in time and location—information, as well as encouraging younger students—and you, dear readers— to take action. 

Diving into Data: What Are We Measuring?

Ocean Parameters and Climate Tipping Points

For you to understand better, you must first be able to know a few key terms and ideas. A tipping point is a critical threshold at which even a small change can have dramatic effects and cause a disproportionately large response in the overall system. As we already know, climate change is leading the Earth towards tipping points, at which damage won't be able to be healed and our dear planet's equilibrium will be—it is already being—severely disrupted. In order to avoid tipping points in Earth's systems that may cause Earth's systems to change so much that human life is no longer possible, Johann Rockström and Will Steffen proposed in 2009 the planetary boundaries model. Climate change is one of the nine planetary boundaries, and we have already exceeded it. This means that the Earth's climate system has been so disturbed that it is unlikely to remain in its current state: we are reaching, or have already reached, a tipping point.

And you may ask yourself: what does this have to do with the ocean? Well, its subsequent warming due to higher temperatures caused by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide or methane in the atmosphere affects its currents, which influence climate zones and weather patterns according to the depth and direction of water movement. Due to temperature changes and the resulting melting of ice sheets at the poles, ocean currents may slow or change direction or location. This would have large-scale global consequences in climate distribution and patterns around the globe. 

For example, scientists fear that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation—a system of ocean currents that circulates water within the Atlantic Ocean, bringing warm water north and cold water south—, part of the ocean conveyor belt, is slowing, which would impact aquatic and land ecosystems globally. Furthermore, recent records show tat the AMOC is currently in its weakest state over a millennium. 

According to a research article published in the Science journal a month and a half ago by René M. Van Westen, Michael Kliphuis and Henk A. Dijkstra titled <<Physics-based early warning signal shows that AMOC is on tipping course>>,  the AMOC is specially prone to undergoing rapid change either through the surface freshwater flux or by input of fresh water due to river runoff or ice melt. Classical early warning indicators suggest that AMOC will reach a tipping point before the end of the century. A targeted simulation to find an AMOC tipping event conducted by the oceanographs in charge of the article featured an atmospheric response consisting of a seesaw pattern in the 2 metres surface temperature, a southward intertropical convergence zone shift, and the strengthening of the Hadley cell in the Northern Hemisphere. Also, the Arctic sea-ice pack would extend to 50ºN, amplifying further Northern hemisphere cooling via the ice-albedo feedback. As a result, the Northern hemisphere would show cooler temperatures. In contrast, there would be a gradual decrease in the Antarctic ice-pack, severely disrupting the equilibrium of ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest.

Ocean sampling provides critical data that enhances our understanding of climate change and its impacts on both local and global scales. Here’s how each parameter contributes to this understanding:

These measurements are essential for understanding both local and global climate change impacts, helping predict future scenarios and guide adaptation strategies. 

For inquiries related to the ProBleu Project, you can contact the helpdesk at 

helpdesk@probleu.school.

Additionally, for information about the ProBleu Ocean Curriculum Funding, you can reach out to Jessica Briggs at

 jessica.briggs@oceanconservationtrust.org.

For general information about the ProBleu Project, you can visit their official website at 

https://probleu.school/the-project/.

You can also follow them on social media for the latest updates:
📱 Instagram: @probleu.schools

📺 YouTube: @ProBleu.school

🐦 Twitter: @pro_bleu

Acknowledging Our Partners

We would like to express our gratitude to the following organisations and individuals for their invaluable support in making this project a success: the Likemysea Project team, Probleu funders, the ICM/CSIC, and our esteemed local collaborators in Barcelona and Split.

 We would also like to acknowledge the commendable efforts of students and educators at Voramón IB and Split International School for their active participation in research activities.