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AWI director Antje Boetius will participate in a scientific seminar in Monaco on May 11, starting at 2:30 pm. The title: "Northbound - The North Sea and the Arctic Ocean: threats and solutions. Antje Boetius will give a keynote speach at the event. The seminar is organized by the Monegasque "Institut oceanographique" and Prince Albert of Monaco. The seminar will be streamed live.

According to estimates, by 2040 the level of plastic pollution could reach 80 million metric tons per year. Plastic particles have now been detected in virtually all spheres of the environment, e.g. in water bodies, the soil and the air. Via ocean currents and rivers, the tiny plastic particles can even reach the Arctic, Antarctic or ocean depths. A new overview study has now shown that wind, too, can transport these particles great distances – and much faster than water can: in the atmosphere, they can travel from their point of origin to the most…

Presentation of the Carl Weyprecht Medal at the 28th International Polar Meeting of the German Polar Research Society. (DGP) on 2 May 2022 in Potsdam, from right to left: Prof. Dr. Hugues Lantuit (AWI, awardee), Dr. Gerlis Fugmann (IASC, awardee), Dr. Heidemarie Kassens (Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the DGP), Prof. Dr. Cornelia Spiegel (Chair of the DGP), Minister Dr. Manja Schüle (Brandenburg Ministry of Science, Research and Culture, MWFK), apl. Prof. Dr. Bernhard Diekmann (local host of the DGP meeting).

An international group of experts says the production of new plastics should be capped to solve the plastic pollution problem. The authors argue that all other measures won’t suffice to keep up with the pace of plastic production and releases. The letter was published in the journal Science.

This week, around 200 participants in the MOSAiC project are gathering in Potsdam.

Until now, measures to protect climate and biodiversity have often been developed in parallel. However, this is now considered outdated because many approaches can protect both climate and biodiversity. Targetted at the upcoming UN Biodiversity Conference, an international team of scientists has assessed the role of the potential future global biodiversity targets (Post-2020 Action Targets for 2030) for climate protection and found that about two thirds of these targets can also help to slow climate change.

Can iron-rich dust fertilize the ocean, stimulate algae growth there, and thereby capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? An international research team with the participation of the Alfred Wegener Institute used deep-sea sediment cores from the Scotia Sea to investigate whether this hypothetical greenhouse gas sink had an effect during ice ages. Although dust input was high during ice ages, no evidence of a fertilization effect could be found in the Antarctic Ocean. Rather, the production of algae, for example, and thus carbon dioxide sequestration,…

Global plastic pollution is steadily increasing: To meet the challenge, the Helmholtz Zentum Hereon has developed a digital English-language information platform on plastic pollution: the "Microplastic Compendium". Through the platform, the aim is to raise awareness of the pollution of the environment with plastic waste and the resulting microplastics. AWI scientists Melanie Bergmann, Ilka Peeken and Mine Tekmann contributed to the site on the topic of plastic in the Arctic.

On 1 April, the German Environmental Satellite EnMAP was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Over the next several years, the hyperspectral mission will gather images of the Earth’s surface in about. 250 colours (“spectral bands”), offering unparalleled information on the current state of the planet’s vegetation, soils and waters. The Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) will also use this data for future analyses of climatic and environmental phenomena around the…

Even the High North can’t escape the global threat of plastic pollution. An international review study just released by the Alfred Wegener Institute shows, the flood of plastic has reached all spheres of the Arctic: large quantities of plastic - transported by rivers, the air and shipping- can now be found in the Arctic Ocean. High concentrations of microplastic can be found in the water, on the seafloor, remote beaches, in rivers, and even in ice and snow. The plastic is not only a burden for ecosystems; it could also worsen climate change. The study…