The Gaia Blu ship studies climate stress in the Mediterranean

The National Research Council's Gaia Blu research vessel has returned to the Mediterranean for the new oceanographic campaign 'Itineris ' Eyes' (Integrating, INnovating, Evolving Research InfraStructures for hEalthY and prEdicted marine ecosystems) . An international research team will be on board until July 30th, investigating the effects of climate change on plankton biodiversity and its impacts on the food chain and the carbon cycle in marine waters. "To date, we know that global warming and the pressures caused by human activities alter the dynamics of marine circulation: this increases the vulnerability of ecosystems and their biodiversity ," observes campaign coordinator Emanuele Organelli of the CNR Institute of Marine Sciences. "However, we don't know what's happening to both plant and animal plankton in the open sea. If plankton changes, everything changes: the marine food chain, the carbon cycle, and therefore the climate balance of our planet." The 'Itineris Eyes' campaign, which launched on July 8th from Civitavecchia, will initially focus on the Tyrrhenian Sea , the Sardinia Channel , the Algerian-Provençal Basin , and the Ligurian Sea . From July 24th, the ship will return to the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas, before returning to Civitavecchia on July 30th. The work is coordinated by the CNR Institute of Marine Sciences, but the expedition also involves the CNR Institute of Polar Sciences, the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics, the Southern National Laboratories of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, the Villefranche Sea Institute, the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and the Space 42 company. These institutions collaborate with the Itineris Marine Domain, the Italian Integrated System of Environmental Research Infrastructures.