EPOC is a European AMOC research project. We study the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: how it works, how it has changed, and what its future holds. Institutions across Europe and North America are combining observations, palaeoclimate records, and climate models to resolve uncertainties about AMOC behaviour. Together, we examine how AMOC links to weather, sea level rise, ecosystems, and carbon uptake.
The project is coordinated by Universität Hamburg and brings together 24 partner institutions across Europe and North America. EPOC is funded under the Horizon Europe programme, grant agreement 101081383, and runs until June 2027.
The AMOC, or Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, is a large-scale circulation pattern in the ocean. It regulates heat and rainfall across Europe and beyond. EPOC is working to understand how climate change will affect it.
We examine what the latest science says about AMOC collapse risk, separating near-term plausible risks from extreme scenarios that go beyond current evidence, and explaining why accurate communication matters.
Is the AMOC approaching a tipping point? EPOC scientists examine the modelling evidence and what it does — and does not — tell us about the risk of an abrupt shutdown.
How do scientists know how the ocean and climate has varied in the distant past when observations only go back 70 years or so? The answer is in the mud at the bottom of the ocean.
As many people around Europe start to wind down for the summer holidays, the EPOC science teams are gearing up for the research cruise season. Three expeditions are on the calendar for the July – October period, starting with a month-long mission to the Flemish Cap region of the NW Atlantic, setting sail in late July.
EPOC Newsletter #3 now out! The third edition of the EPOC newsletter is now out. Catch up on our latest expedition plans, research results and expert opinion on all things AMOC. Download PDF (4.5MB)
EPOC @ ASOF! The Arctic-Subarctic Ocean Fluxes (ASOF) program is an international initiative focused on understanding the role of the Arctic and Subarctic oceans in the climate system. The ASOF community concentrates on measuring and modelling the variability of mass, heat, freshwater,
EPOC project gathers for second annual meeting Marking the end of the second year of the project, on 18-20 September 2024 EPOC scientists gathered in Reading, UK for a 3-day conference to showcase results so far, discuss progress and plan in detail
Number of peer-reviewed publications EPOC has contributed to.
See the full list of publications.