The University of Southampton is one of 27 institutions taking part in SYNCHRONY, a four-year, EU-funded project aiming to transform understanding of the Southern Ocean and Antarctic coastal seas, regions experiencing rapid change. Collaborating with universities and research centres worldwide, the €8.5 million project seeks to develop a coordinated observation system to monitor environmental shifts. Dr Alessandro Silvano, of the University of Southampton, said: "The Southern Ocean is one of the hardest places on Earth to observe and is changing faster than many of us expected. Despite the urgency, scientists cannot yet predict how these changes will affect the global climate. Other UK partners in the project include the British Antarctic Survey, the National Oceanography Centre, and the University of Edinburgh.