Hjálmar Hátún to Deliver Keynote on Arctic-Atlantic Connectivity
The thematic plenary session Oceans will feature a keynote contribution from Hjálmar Hátún, oceanographer at the Faroe Marine Research Institute. The session forms part of the Ocean Connectivity Conference and will take place on Ocean Day, 28 May – a day dedicated to ocean-related themes and discussions.
In his keynote, Hjálmar Hátún will explore the dynamic exchanges of water between the Arctic and the North Atlantic across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. Addressing the ongoing discussion on a potential slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the keynote will place particular emphasis on natural variability in ocean processes, especially winter convection.
The session will highlight how these ocean dynamics shape connections between major circulation systems, including the subpolar and Norwegian Sea gyres, and influence key environmental factors such as temperature, salinity, nutrient concentrations, and marine productivity. These processes have far-reaching implications for phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance, fish stocks, seabird populations, and the migration patterns of species such as pilot whales. The broader impact of open-ocean processes on the surrounding shelf areas south of Iceland and around the Faroe Islands will also be addressed.
The plenary session will be chaired by Adrian Lema, Head of Department at the Danish Meteorological Institute and Chair of the Danish, Greenlandic and Faroese Committee for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
Hjálmar Hátún will be joined in the panel by Josephine Nymand, Director at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources; Lis Lindal Jørgensen, Senior Scientist at the Institute of Marine Research in Norway; and Tore Furevik, Director of the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center. Together, they will contribute to a discussion linking ocean science, ecosystem dynamics, and sustainable management in the Arctic and North Atlantic region.