The Ice2sea programme was proposed to meet the requirements of the following call issued by the European Commission on 30/11/2008

Annex 1 - Text of the call - FP7 Cooperation Work Programme 2008

Area 6.1.1.1. The Earth System and Climate: Functioning and abrupt changes

ENV.2008.1.1.1.1. Sea-Level Rise: Trends in contributions from continental ice, processes and links to climate change

Recent studies have stressed the importance of continental ice melting in the sea-level rise observed in the past decades and the need to have better predictions of its contribution for the future. Observations indicate that the melting of the ice is accelerating for glaciers worldwide and for Arctic ice sheets. Antarctic ice sheets indicate large regional differences in snow precipitation and temperature trends while there is clear ice retreat in the Antarctic Peninsula. Under this topic research should include field studies of key processes (e.g. ice flow dynamics), observations, data gathering and analysis, and modelling to refine predictions of the behaviour of glaciers (globally), ice caps, and-ice sheets, links to climate change and associated changes of sea level over the next decades and centuries. The project should take advantage through collaboration from on-going European research programmes in the Arctic and Antarctic and make specific efforts to fill gaps in data coverage (e.g. Antarctica and glaciers worldwide). International cooperation is encouraged.

Funding scheme: collaborative project (large-scale integrating project, community contribution from EUR 4 000 000 up to 10 000 000)

Expected impact: Quantification of the risk of substantial acceleration of sea level rise due to continental ice melting. The project will reduce uncertainties in these important processes in sea level changes and contribute to the Fifth IPCC Assessment