Anyone concerned with the development of the global climate, rising sea levels or changes in marine ecosystems must always keep the polar regions in mind. The Arctic and Antarctic, for example, play a central role in the system of global ocean currents, and the large but shrinking ice sheets are important factors in the Earth's radiation balance.
![[Translate to English:] Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer der jährlichen Sitzung des deutschen Nationalkomitees für Polarforschung](/fileadmin/user_upload/AWI/Ueber_uns/Service/Presse/2018/2_Quartal/KM_SCAR_GEOMAR/IMG_0186_eb48753f66.jpg "[Translate to English:] Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer der jährlichen Sitzung des deutschen Nationalkomitees für Polarforschung")
This week, 40 scientists from all over Germany meet for the annual meeting of the German National Committee for Polar Research at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Oceanography in Kiel. The agenda includes discussions on the implementation of the "Polar Research Agenda 2030", which was published by the National Committee in September 2017. This agenda summarizes the current state of knowledge and presents the urgent research questions of the next 10 to 15 years.
German polar research has a long and successful tradition and, with its research stations, aircraft and research vessels, plays a leading role internationally. However, this is only possible thanks to excellent national and international scientific cooperation. Germany is internationally integrated in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), in which the German Research Foundation (DFG) is the German member.
The German National Committee SCAR/IASC serves as the national correspondence body to SCAR and IASC. It also plans and coordinates the activities of the universities with those of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, GEOMAR and other federal institutions and institutes that have the necessary logistics for polar research.
The annual meeting of the National Committee SCAR/IASC takes place in turn at participating research institutions. Another important topic of this week's meeting is the preparation of the meetings of the international SCAR and IASC working groups in Davos in the context of the international conference POLAR 2018 in June.