News

Korean and German research institutes would like to increase their collaboration in the area of Polar and Marine research. In order to achieve this, scientists from both countries are coming together for a meeting in Bremerhaven from 22nd-25th May. The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine research (a member of the Helmholtz Association) is the host.

Arctic atmosphere very clean this year:

Under the direction of two of the Helmholtz Centres, i.e. the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and the German Aerospace Center, an international research group is currently investigating the Arctic atmosphere above Spitsbergen. Aim of this year’s ASTAR 2007 project (Arctic Study of Tropospheric Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation) is an accurate description of the Arctic atmosphere during spring.
 

In 2008, scientists will, for the very first time, create a continual profile of ice thickness in the Arctic, extending from the Canadian coast across the North Pole to Siberia. At the core of the project lies the crossing of the North Pole by zeppelin.

Research aircrafts observe further decline of ice cover

Central Europe is not the only place where the past, warm winter has caused record temperatures. Unusually mild temperatures also prevented ice formation in the Arctic, specifically in the region around Spitsbergen. This is the conclusion drawn by scientists of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). Both institutes are members of the Helmholtz Association of German research centres. They aim to span the Helmholtz-network to observe…

German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) approves technical development work for research icebreaker and drilling vessel AURORA BOREALIS

The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) is receiving more than 5 million Euro from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The funds will be dedicated to continue technical development of the new European research icebreaker AURORA BOREALIS, together with the Department of Naval Architecture at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen. Simultaneously, the…

When more than 50,000 scientists, working in the remotest areas of the world unite, it is an important event, that demands attention all over the world. More than 60 nations are joining forces, with research into ice and snow, in order to investigate climate.
On 1 March, a wave of opening ceremonies will take place around the world: from Japan and Australia, through to China, and Europe to Brazil. In Germany, the opening of the International Polar Year on March 1 will be celebrated in Berlin. Not only will the most important research projects be…

10-week Voyage Yields Likely New Species, Insights into Polar Ecology;
Intrigued Scientists Find: Herds of Sea Cucumbers on the Move,
Fields of Colonizing Sea Squirts, Whales Approach Coast;
Deep-Sea Species at Unusually Shallow Depths on Uncapped Seabed
 

An international group of researchers has succeeded in identifying a previously unknown group of algae. As currently reported in the scientific journal Science, the newly discovered algae are found among the smallest members of photosynthetic plankton - the picoplankton (‘Picobiliphytes: A marine picoplanktonic algal group with unknown affinities to other Eukaroytes” Science, Vol. 316’). On account of the minute size of the organisms (no more than a few thousandth of a millimetre) and the appearance of phycobili-proteins, researchers have termed the new…

Ongoing global climate change causes changes in the species composition of marine ecosystems, especially in shallow coastal oceans. This applies also to fish populations. Previous studies demonstrating a link between global warming and declining fish stocks were based entirely on statistical data. However, in order to estimate future changes, it is essential to develop a deeper understanding of the effect of water temperature on the biology of organisms under question. A new investigation, just published in the scientific journal Science, reveals that a…

One of Polarstern’s biggest fish catch in 24 years of research in Antarctic waters. New hope for commercial fisheries? Quite the opposite, a good catch doesn’t necessarily mean that depleted stocks have recovered.