News

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) refers to a pattern of climatic fluctuations in the tropical Pacific, which, over time, produce major changes in the temperature distribution and currents in the ocean. Humans, animals and even entire ecosystems can feel the effects of ENSO – particularly in the form of the extreme events El Niño and La Niña. Yet we still have no definitive explanation of how global warming influences ENSO, or on whether El Niño and La Niña will be more frequent and intense in the future, or less frequent and weaker. An…

The Research Vessel Polarstern was in the Arctic for the past seven weeks. There, the summertime sea-ice extent declined by ca. 40 percent over the past 40 years – making it one of the most visible impacts of climate change. In order to better grasp such changes, the research teams on board the Polarstern investigated Atlantic Water Recirculation in Fram Strait and in the marginal ice zone north of Svalbard, as well as ocean/glacier interactions off the coast of Greenland. Central research questions included how the ice conditions, ocean heat fluxes and…

In order to understand the Earth as one system and find effective solutions for global challenges, German Geosciences need to be modernised with Earth System Science as the future operating framework. This is the recommendation made by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in its Report on Tomorrow’s Science “Earth System Science: Discovery, Diagnosis, and Solutions in Times of Global Change”. The report, to which AWI Director Antje Boetius contributed, provides an overview of the field of research and proposes steps to be taken.

At the end of June, Albert II, Prince of Monaco visited the French-German research base AWIPEV in Ny-Ålesund / Spitsbergen, which is operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) and the French Polar Institute Paul Emile Victor (IPEV). The highlight of the visit was the launch of the weather balloon, performed by the Prince himself. (Picture: Oceanographic Institute - Olivier Borde)

So far, thousands of deep-sea photos and videos from marine research institutes have been barely accessible on the Internet because they are not cataloged and described consistently. A team from the Helmholtz Research Centers, with the participation of AWI, GEOMAR and Hereon, has developed a uniform data standard for underwater images that is intended to enable the global use of such image data. The group presents the new metadata format in the journal "Nature Scientific Data".​ Further information

As part of an investigation of the Western Pacific Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, Senckenberg researchers, with the support of AWI scientists and researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt, have proved high levels of microplastic pollution, which is greater than previously assumed. While evaluating the sediment samples, the research team found that each of the 13 samples taken from a depth of up to 9450 meters contained between 215 and 1596 tiny microplastic particles per kilogram. Further information

In Germany, the Harz is a region particularly hard hit by climate change: storms, arid conditions and subsequent bark beetle infestations are causing unprecedented damage to the forest. Sea-ice experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute are now helping to quantify the damage and contributing to the success of reforestation efforts – from the air. To carry out essential equipment tests for an upcoming Arctic campaign, they are engaging in survey flights over the Harz, during which they're putting their new, high-resolution camera systems through their…

About 1400 kilometers east of the Philippines lies the archipelago of Palau in the West Pacific. Here, the air is particularly pure and low in pollutants - perfect conditions for studying the distribution of particles in the atmosphere and their influence on the climate worldwide. The Alfred Wegener Institute has been operating the Palau Atmospheric Observatory here since 2015, together with the University of Bremen, the Palau Community College and the Coral Reef Research Foundation. Now a delegation led by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has…

After blue whales, fin whales are the largest whales in the world – and human beings have hunted both species to near-extinction. After the ban on commercial whaling in 1976, the stocks of these long-lived, but slow-growing creatures are rebounding: in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers and filmmakers jointly present videos and photos of large groups of up to 150 southern fin whales in their historical feeding areas – more than has ever been documented before using modern methods. Given these whales’ key role in nutrient recycling, other species…

The International Coral Reef Symposium will be held in Bremen, Germany, July 3-8. ICRS 2022 is the world's leading conference on coral reef science, management and conservation. AWI scientists will also participate in the ICRS. Claudio Richter will lead a program section on Antarctic cold-water corals, and other AWI colleagues will report on their research.