News

Polarstern returned to its home port of Bremerhaven on Sunday with the afternoon high tide after a successful Antarctic season. On board were 19 young scientists and experts, among others, who taught them the basics of marine research disciplines on the return transit from Antarctica.

Under this motto, the Icelandic Embassy invites to two events in Bremerhaven's Fischbahnhof on May 30 and 31. In an exclusive preview, the Icelandic exhibition "hafið - Reflections of the Sea" will be shown. AWI director Antje Boetius and AWI photographer Esther Horvath will report about their work on May 30 from 6 pm. On May 31, the panel discussion "The Arctic Table" will take place starting at 10 am. More information about the event. Registration by e-mail: rkb@mfa.is

Due to global warming, temperatures in the Arctic are climbing rapidly. As a result, the treeline for Siberian larch forests is steadily advancing to the north, gradually supplanting the broad expanses of tundra which are home to a unique mix of flora and fauna. Experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute have now prepared a computer simulation of how these woods could spread in the future, at the tundra’s expense. Their conclusion: only consistent climate protection measures will allow roughly 30 percent of the Siberian tundra to survive to…

Since the Antarctic Treaty entered into force in 1961, representatives of the participating nations have met regularly for the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM). The 44th ATCM, from 23 May till 2 June 2022, is being hosted by Germany in Berlin. Matters on the agenda include topical questions relating to Antarctica and further developments on the coldest continent on our planet. The Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) presents the exhibition "Experience Antarctica" at ATCM. This shows the delegates of…

The Salon Sophie Charlotte 2022 will take place on May 21 from 6 pm in Berlin under the motto "still - Life is Life". At 7 pm, AWI director Antje Boetius and Alexander Eisenach will discuss the role of art, science and society in the context of the climate crisis as part of the program item "Fragile Life". Further information and the registration form for Salon Sophie Charlotte 2022.

The European Maritime Day 2022 will take place on May 19 and 20 in Ravenna, Italy. AWI scientist Gesche Krause will moderate the "Ocean Literacy EU4Ocean Summit - Plenary session 1", which will include two panel discussions on ocean and climate, and food from the ocean. The event will be broadcast online.

As part of the Year of Science, the Cluster Conference will be held in Berlin on May 20 and 21 from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., with AWI Director Antje Boetius participating as a member of the Science Panel. Citizens have submitted a total of 13,000 questions to science. At the cluster conference, these will now be bundled and discussed by the Citizen and Science Panel.

Prof Antje Boetius, Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute: “We were extremely pleased and relieved to pick up on the signals from the political community that the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag has opted to provide funding for the procurement of the Polarstern II. Thanks to this wonderful news from the Adjustment Session on the Federal Budget for 2022, we have come a major step closer to acquiring a modern, high-performance and sustainable successor to our research icebreaker Polarstern." 

The idea of growing sargassum in huge algae farms is one of five projects that the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation is funding in the coming year. The aim is to find new solutions that make the long-term storage of large amounts of CO2 sustainable and economical.

AWI Director Antje Boetius will participate in a panel discussion on "What kind of science architecture is required to deliver relevant science to policy?" on May 12, starting at 3:10 pm. The panel discussion is organized by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in cooperation with UNESCO as part of the Ocean Decade. The event will be streamed live. Further information on the Ocean Decade Laboratory.