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20 years ago, scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) laid the “foundation stone” for a unique long-term observatory in the partly ice-covered Fram Strait between Greenland and Svalbard, which they call their HAUSGARTEN. The deep-sea observatory is the first, and still the only one of its kind for year-round physical, chemical and biological observations in a polar region. Here researchers investigate how a polar marine ecosystem alters in a period of global change. 

The tiny organisms cling to oil droplets and perform a great feat: As a single organism, they may produce methane from oil by a process called alkane disproportionation. Previously this was only known from symbioses between bacteria and archaea. Scientists from Joint Re­search Group for Deep-Sea Eco­logy and Tech­no­logy of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (MPI), have now found cells of this microbe called  Methanoliparia in oil reservoirs worldwide.

The rare isotope iron-60 is produced by huge star explosions. Only a small proportion comes from remote stars. Researchers have now discovered iron-60 in the Antarctic for the first time. They have been able to draw spectacular conclusions from their findings.

Over the past several years, microplastic particles have repeatedly been detected in seawater, drinking water, and even in animals. But these minute particles are also transported by the atmosphere and subsequently washed out of the air, especially by snow – and even in such remote regions as the Arctic and the Alps. This was demonstrated in a study conducted by experts at the Alfred Wegener Institute and at the Swiss WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, recently published in the journal Science Advances.

On the evening of 10 August 2019, the research vessel Polarstern will leave her homeport in Bremerhaven. The purpose of the expedition is to conduct studies at a major long-term monitoring station in the Arctic: the AWI’s Hausgarten observatory in the Fram Strait, where experts from various disciplines are investigating all aspects of the ecosystem, from the water’s surface to the ocean depths, in order to determine the impacts of climate change on biodiversity in the Arctic. After roughly a month underway, in mid-September Polarstern will reach the…

The Cody Award recognizes outstanding scientific achievement in oceanography, ocean biosciences, and earth science. It is presented by Scripps Institution of Oceanography to a scientist who has made significant contributions to his or her field of science specialty. Prof. Dr. Antje Boetius, Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, now receives the award. The Cody Award, presented biennially, consists of a gold medal and $10,000.

In the Paris Agreement of 2015, Germany and the global community agreed to limit anthropogenic global warming to less than 2°C. But that goal can only be reached if both national and international agreements are adhered to, effective immediately. Consequently, in the ad hoc statement “Climate targets for 2030: Avenues to a sustainable reduction in CO₂emissions”, the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina calls for an immediate transformation spurt and describes various climate protection measures that can quickly gain social acceptance and promote…

How did events like the Black Death plague impact the economy of Medieval Europe? Particles of lead trapped deep in Arctic ice can tell us: Commercial and industrial processes have emitted lead into the atmosphere for thousands of years, from the mining and smelting of silver ores to make currency for ancient Rome to the burning of fossil fuels today. This lead pollution travels on wind currents through the atmosphere, eventually settling on places like the ice sheet in Greenland and other parts of the Arctic. Scientists from the Alfred Wegener…

In the 18th Coastal Summer School 16 young scientists from nine nations visiting the North Sea island Helgoland for eleven days. The aim of the project is to deepen their knowledge of coastal phytoplankton research.

Everydayclimatechange: In the photo exhibition, from the 5.7 to 18.8, four AWI photos will be shown in Orbetello, Italy. The work documents the AWI climate research in the polar regions.