Both Science and Society accept nowadays that Climate Change experienced by the Earth is mainly due to greenhouse gases excess accumulated in the atmosphere induced by human activities. Climate Change, in turn, is largely responsible for a Global Change on Earth ecosystems. Global Change refers to the impact of human activities on the fundamental mechanisms for biosphere functioning such as climate, water and fundamental element cycles, the transformation of the territory, biodiversity loss and the introduction of new chemicals in Nature.
The Oceanography and Global Change Institute (IOCAG) arises to structure and coordinate a number of consolidated and interdisciplinary research groups at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and it is intended to assess the ocean's role in the Climate Change, while investigating how this change affects the planet in the singular marine and coastal ecosystems.
This joint effort across IOCAG will enhance the work for each of the group members, as it will favor synergies to address common challenges and larger projects. This way they will give a quantitative and qualitative leap in projecting scientific, technological and social development at their respective fields. Research in Marine Science and Technology is particularly complex as it requires coordination between researchers in different topics, contributing optimally to understand the behavior of the ocean. We aim IOCAG to be the seed of a greater interdisciplinary Research Center for Global Change in the Canary Islands, where additional research groups addressing Global Change from different perspectives could also be integrated.
