ICES report on ocean climate 2020

We are very pleased to present the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) report on ocean climate (IROC) 2020. The IROC production is a credit to the tireless efforts and long-term commitment of the international experts who are members of the ICES Working Group on Ocean Hydrography (WGOH). This report provides a combined analysis of the ocean-hydrography observations that are regularly collected at multiple stations in the ICES regions of the North Atlantic and its adjacent seas. The best possible overview of ocean changes is presented based on measurements of temperature and salinity over time, with several time-series dating back from multiple decades to over a century.

The Covid-19 pandemic affected the IROC 2020 service delivery, due to continued disruptions and travel restrictions in many countries that hampered ocean observing activities. Expert group members encountered varying challenges, including personal experiences (e.g. school closures), impacts on data-collection efforts, and issues accessing oceanographic sites. During the COVID-19 pandemic, WGOH meetings were held online, with virtual gatherings in spring and autumn 2021. These online meetings provided the opportunity for more members to engage in discussions. WGOH welcomed five new members from Germany, Ireland, and UK in 2021. While the WGOH membership (61) has increased, we would like extend our heartfelt gratitude to colleagues who stepped down recently. In particular, special thanks to Penny Holliday [National Oceanographic Centre (NOC), UK] and Holger Klein (Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, Germany) for their many years of service organizing oceanographic campaigns and providing highly valued contributions to the IROC and wider WGOH activities.

We envisage that 2022 will be a dynamic year for WGOH members, with the upcoming UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development endorsed conference “ICES/NAFO 4th Decadal Variability of the North Atlantic and its Marine Ecosystems: 2010–2019 Symposium” scheduled for 26–28 April in Bergen, Norway. The expert group will also co-convene two sessions at the ICES Annual Science Conference in September 2022 on “Oceanography and ecosystems in the North Atlantic: Science and operational services” (theme session) and “Advancing the pathways for oceanography to ecosystem science and advice” (network session). Finally, we also plan a number of other activities including efforts to improve the IROC content (e.g. standardized maps), document the protocols for data analysis in each region, continue to identify and respond to our stakeholder needs, and increase our efforts to work with the wider global ocean observing community.

The IROC was written by the following WGOH members and collaborators: Jon Albretsen (IMR, Bergen, Norway); Wilken-Jon von Appen (AWI, Bremerhaven, Germany); Barbara Berx (MSS, Aberdeen, UK); Agnieszka Beszczynska-Möller (IOPAN, Sopot, Poland); Léon Chafik (MISU, Stockholm, Sweden); Boris Cisewski (TI-SF, Bremerhaven, Germany); Caroline Cusack (Marine Institute, Galway, Ireland); Frédéric Cyr (DFO, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada); Eoghan Daly (ICRAG, Ireland); Magnus Danielsen (MFRI, Iceland); Damien Desbruyères (Ifremer/LOPS, Brest, France); Angelika Dummermuth (MARUM, Germany); Stephen Dye (Cefas, Lowestoft, UK); Almudena Fontán (AZTI, San Sebastian, Spain); Paula Fratantoni (NOAA, Woods Hole, MA, USA); Peter Galbraith (DFO, Mont-Joli, Quebec, Canada); César González-Pola (IEO, Gijón, Spain); Hjálmar Hátún (FAMRI, Tórshavn, Faroes); David Hebert (DFO, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada); Jenny Hindson (MSS, Aberdeen, UK); Billy Hunter (AFBI, UK); Randi Ingvaldsen (IMR, Bergen, Norway); Sam Jones (SAMS, Oban, UK); Johannes Karstensen (GEOMAR, Germany); Dagmar Kieke (IUP, Germany); Manuela Köllner (BSH, Hamburg, Germany); Nicolas Kolodziejczyk (UBO, Brest, France); Karin Margretha H. Larsen (FAMRI, Tórshavn, Faroes); K. Latarius (BSH, Hamburg, Germany); C. Layton (DFO, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada); Taavi Liblik (TalTech, Tallinn, Estonia); Johanna Linders (SMHI, Göteborg, Sweden); Peter Loewe (BSH, Hamburg, Germany); Kieran Lyons (Marine Institute, Galway, Ireland); Kjell-Arne Mork (IMR, Bergen, Norway); Sólveig R. Ólafsdóttir (MFRI, Reykjavik, Iceland); Hjalte Parner (ICES, Cophenhagen, Denmark); Ricardo Sánchez-Leal (IEO, Cadiz, Spain); Tim Smyth (PML, Plymouth, UK); Alexander Trofimov (PINRO, Murmansk, Russian Federation); Victor Valencia (AZTI, San Sebastian, Spain); Pedro Vélez-Belchí (IEO, Tenerife, Spain); Tycjan Wodzinowski (MIR-PIB, Gdynia, Poland), and Svein Østerhus (NORCE, Bergen, Norway).

For a list of authors by section, including full affiliation and contact details, see Annex 1. Technical assistance during the assembly of this report was provided by Eneko Aierbe and Rocío Graña (IEO, Gijón, Spain).