Ocean University of China hosted the 4th International Symposium on Polar Ocean and Global Change (iSPOGOC) in Qingdao from May 24 to 25, 2025. The event convened over 120 scientists and graduate students from 9 international institutions and 27 domestic organizations, both in-person and virtually, to discuss cutting-edge research in polar ocean science.
The opening ceremony featured a welcoming address by Professor Lin Xiaopei, Dean of the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, who highlighted the university’s contributions to polar research. He emphasized the need for deeper international cooperation to address the challenges posed by rapid polar changes and to advance polar science from “phenomenological understanding” toward “mechanistic interpretation and predictive capabilities.”
Five internationally renowned scholars presented keynote addresses. Academician Zhang Renhe from Fudan University analyzed the Arctic amplification effect and its connection to winter high-latitude land-sea temperature contrast variations. Professor Ruediger Stein from the University of Bremen reconstructed the evolutionary history of Arctic ice sheets, sea ice, and organic carbon burial through late Cenozoic sediment records. Professor Chen Gang from UCLA proposed an attribution model for mid-latitude surface temperature variability based on a moist energy framework. Other speakers addressed Arctic circulation variability and thermodynamic processes in sea ice modeling.
Themed “The Changing Arctic Ocean: Mechanisms, Impacts, and Predictions,” the symposium featured 24 high-level academic presentations across four sessions: Physical Processes of A More Dynamic Arctic Ocean; Arctic Amplification and Extreme Events; Arctic Sea Ice Observation Techniques and Modelling; and Processes and Driving Mechanisms of Biogeochemical Cycling in the Arctic Ocean. Researchers from Canada, the United States, Finland, Norway, Germany, South Korea, Japan, and China engaged in active discussions on data sharing, model optimization, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
The symposium successfully established an international exchange platform, strengthening China’s voice in polar research and contributing Chinese perspectives and solutions to global ocean governance. Participants from multiple colleges and laboratories at Ocean University of China attended the event, further promoting interdisciplinary collaboration in polar ocean-climate-ecosystem coupling research.