An international team of scientists is preparing to launch the OVIDE 2026 expedition to the North Atlantic, a key region for global climate regulation, following recent findings showing that the ocean’s storage of human-generated carbon has increased by more than 30% over the past 30 years.

Coordinated by Ifremer with partners including CNRS, IRD, UBO, CSIC and Durham University, the campaign will survey the section between Greenland and Portugal aboard the research vessel L’Atalante. The mission continues a long-term observing programme tracking changes in ocean circulation, carbon uptake and deep-water processes linked to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).

Scientists will collect physical and biogeochemical measurements from the surface to depths exceeding 5,000 metres, while also deploying autonomous Argo floats to extend observations beyond the expedition. The data will help assess how recent warming events in the North Atlantic may influence ocean circulation and the ocean’s capacity to store carbon.

The OVIDE programme, running since 2002, provides one of the longest continuous records of change in the subpolar North Atlantic, offering essential insights into the ocean’s role in climate regulation.

Read more and the official press release: here.

Picture Credit: L. Carracedo, OVIDE-BOCATS 2021 campaign.