DOLDRUMS = Deciphering OLD ship Records to Understand the Maritime Structure of the Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone.

Once feared by mariners, the doldrums are regions of low wind speeds that occur in the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), one of the wettest regions on Earth. By reconstructing shifts in wind speeds from historic ship log documents, we aim to understand how this region is transformed by a changing climate. If successful, we will have provided the first viable test case showing the value of historical log books for climate modelling and a narrative, how the ITCZ in general and the doldrums in particular shaped the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

DOLDRUMS is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation as a pioneering research initiative for four years (started on January 1, 2026). It consists of a collaboration between the Center for InterAmerican Studies at Bielefeld University, the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, and Monash University in Australia.

DOLDRUMS project

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