By Camilla Aadland, uni.no
(Photo: Camilla Aadland)
Martin Miles found out that the project had been accepted just before Christmas.
“It was extremely good news. I had a feeling it would work out, and was checking the Research Council of Norway’s websites all week,” says researcher Martin Miles of Uni Climate and the Bjerkness Centre.
What happens if the ice disappears?
He received funding via the Research Council of Norway’s free project support for mathematics, natural science and technology (Frinatek). 19 of the 179 applications for research projects were accepted.
“My project relates to the belt of sea ice flowing along the East-Greenland coast. Sea ice is extremely important for the interaction between the Arctic and non-Arctic regions,” explains Miles.
He will be looking more closely at a period between 6,000 and 8,000 years ago.
“The temperature back then was probably around 2–3 degrees warmer than it is today. Which is interesting when you think about future climate changes. I want to be able to find out whether the ice disappeared, and what happens if it gets smaller or
disappears completely,” elaborates the climate researcher.
Interested in historic climates
This is the first time he has had a research project that goes as far back in time. From researching modern times, he has become a paleo-researcher who researches historic climates. This is something he has dreamed of doing for a long time.
“I’ve always been interested in historic climates. We need long time perspectives, which is interesting in itself,” he explains.
His project is based on carrying out a so-called data synthesis. This means that he needs to put together all available historical data found in the area, and try to discover new information by carrying out a systematic analysis.
“Among other things, we will be looking at ice cores, marine sediments, fresh water sediments and other biological and geological traces,” says Miles.
Announcing the position
His team will include a postdoctoral researcher for two and a half years. The position will be advertised next week, and Miles is hoping to receive applications from many good candidates.
“There are around 30–40 time series from the area, and new data will be developed constantly. It will be exciting to put all this data together, and come up with new results,” he says.
Another research project in which Uni Research and University of Bergen are participating is Ice2Ice, which was accepted at approximately the same time. This involves four research institutions in Norway and Denmark which have received between NOK 50 and 60 million from the European Research Council in order to research the Greenland ice.
“It is pure coincidence that these projects will run concurrently. But we can benefit from each other,” says Miles.
His project will run for three years.
“I hope that we emerge with a better reconstruction of the sea ice, and we can also learn a lot about the connection to other elements in the climate system, such as ocean circulation and glaciers. By learning about previous warm periods, we can hopefully predict what may happen in the next 50 years,” says Miles.