Shin-ichi Ito（Professor, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo）

This research project is aimed at understanding integrally the relationship of the ocean and CO2 and creating innovations for climate change resilience by applying the maximum use of the ocean’s potential. By making use of the project’s transdisciplinary approach, it investigates carbon exchange process between atmosphere, land and ocean, and ocean response function including ecosystems towards atmospheric CO2 concentration increasing.
Specifically, the following three research pillars are set for understanding the effects of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration on the ocean: 1) Clarification of the ocean processes involved in its carbon absorption, storage and sequestration, and the ocean feedback processes according to the carbon cycle due to ocean warming, acidification and deoxygenation; 2) Assessment of the effects on ocean ecosystem services resulted from ocean warming, acidification, and deoxygenation, and their feedback processes according to the carbon cycle; and 3) Development of innovative fundamental technologies to clarify and control the relationship between the ocean and CO2 .
For promoting this research project, researchers are required to quantitatively analyze various factors of the carbon cycle including CO2 with high precision to establish new models and to verify various types of large-scale data. The project therefore welcomes researchers from diverse fields to unravel the ocean, who have technologies and scientific knowledge such as forestry and agriculture related to terrestrial carbon cycle, information science including machine learning and engineering including measurement technology as well as oceanic research. Through the multidisciplinary research collaboration, the project will promote integrated and flexible management and will also collaborate with the PRESTO research project Exploration of the blue biosphere-climate system towards carbon cycle management to maximize outcomes to achieve our strategic goals.