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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 However, this is now considered outdated because many approaches can protect both climate and biodiversity.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…

AWI Director Antje Boetius will give an online presentation on the "One Ocean Summit & Polar Symposium" on March 26 at the annual meeting of the "Forum of Arctic Research Operators (FARO)". The forum takes place as part of the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) in Tromsø. The aim of the event is to strengthen cooperation between the scientific organizations involved in Arctic research. To registration

In mid-March 2022, there was a massive influx of warm air into the Arctic, with several unusual phenomena such as heavy rain over the sea ice and massive clouds reaching almost as high as in the tropics. The international research campaign HALO-(AC)3 is investigating the processes causing the above-average increase in temperatures in the Arctic during the last decades. At two to three degrees Celsius over the last 50 years, this increase is much larger than the warming that has taken place in other regions on Earth. This phenomenon is referred to as…

On 15 March 2022, berufundfamilie Service GmbH awarded the audit certificate, a recognised quality seal, to 65 companies, institutes and universities for a successful family policy. This year, the Alfred Wegener Institute was honoured for the sixth time and received the certificate with predicate, which stands for the special recognition of many years of sustainable family- and life-phase-conscious personnel policy. The AWI received the award for the first time in 2005 and will now carry the certificate for another three years. More information