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The Arctic is changing rapidly due to climate change: sea surface and air temperatures are increasing, the sea ice is thinning and retreating more and more. This has a major impact on the local ecosystem, because: The zone directly under the sea ice is a highly dynamic habitat for a variety of organisms. A research team from the Alfred Wegener Institute has now investigated what these organisms are and how they are affected by the melting ice in the northern Fram Strait. They present their findings in the journal Science of The Total Environment.

The German ambassador in Sofia, Bulgaria, Irene Maria Plank, visited the AWI on 1 March. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss current projects and scientific cooperation between the AWI and Bulgaria. The ambassador was welcomed by Verónica Willmott, Anneli Strobel and Diego Filun. In addition to a tour of the new aquarium facilities, a guided tour of the research vessel Heincke took place.

In recognition of her services to science, to the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research and to Bremen as a location for science, Prof. Antje Boetius has been awarded the Bremen Senate Medal for Art and Science. The Mayor of Bremen, Dr Andreas Bovenschulte, and the Senator for the Environment, Climate and Science, Kathrin Moosdorf, presented Prof. Boetius with her medal and certificate at a ceremony in the Upper Hall at Bremen Town Hall. The Senate had passed a motion approving the honour in June 2024. Musicians from…

A recent study in the journal Science traces the natural cycles of the Earth's climate over a period of one million years. The international research team analysed sediment core data and looked at past climate changes between ice ages and interglacial periods.

There is a greater variety of hydrothermal systems in the deep sea than previously assumed. This is the result of a recent study lead by MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and the Faculty of Geosciences at the University of Bremen. On an expedition with the research icebreaker POLARSTERN, researchers discovered the northernmost hydrothermal field on Earth here – only around 300 kilometers from the North Pole. This discovery suggests that research into hydrothermal activity in the deep sea needs to be rethought. The results were published in…

On Tuesday, 18 February 2025 as part of a specialist appointment, Federal Minister of Research Cem Özdemir visited the thyssenkrupp Marine Systems shipyard in Wismar. There, he was informed about the current state of construction regarding the new research icebreaker Polarstern for the Alfred Wegener Institute. Shortly before Christmas 2024, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, with support from the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag, had approved the award of contract. With Bettina Martin, Minister of Science for the Federal State of…

On February 14, it's “There is no Planet B” all over Germany again. This is because people across the country are taking to the streets in the climate strike to campaign for more climate protection and a sustainable future. Employees at the AWI sites Neumayer Station III in the Antarctic, AWIPEV in the Arctic and the people on Polarstern are also taking part in the climate strike.

AWI Director Antje Boetius will take part in a panel discussion at the “Paris Saclay Summit” on February 12 at 6 pm. The topic: “Can the Arctic still be saved?”. The marine biologist will discuss this topic together with Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, special envoy of the French President for the United Nation Ocean Conference, French Ambassador for the Poles and Oceans. To the livestream.

Like a conveyor belt, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) transports warm water from the tropics northwards at the ocean surface and cold water southwards in the deep sea. Through this heat distribution, it plays a central role in the global climate system. However, increasing global warming as a result of climate change is altering the circulation patterns of the AMOC. In a recent study, researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute found that this change has led to asynchronous poleward shifts of the Atlantic subtropical gyre in…

Countless tiny icequakes occur deep inside ice streams, as an international research team has been able to demonstrate for the first time. This allows the flow of the ice streams and the associated change in sea level to be estimated more precisely. The quakes are responsible for the fact that ice streams also move with a continuous stick-slip motion and not only like viscous honey as previously considered. The underlying seismic data from inside the NEGIS ice stream in north-east Greenland was recorded by researchers in a 2,665-metre-deep borehole using…