Germans Federal Minister of Environment Barbara Hendricks visits Svalbard to get first hand information on climate change. Together with Karin Lochte and scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine research (AWI) she discusses global warming, which affects the Arctic particularly fast and heavily.
“The Arctic is an early warning system for global climate change. And it is much closer to us, than many people think, because everything is connected in the complex climate system”, said the environmental minister Hendricks on her Spitsbergen trip. She praises the scientists’ work: “They show us, how vulnerable our planet is and which challenges we need to prepare for.”
The Alfred Wegener Institute has been operating a research station in Ny Ålesund for 25 year, which has been combined with a French one in 2003 to AWIPEV Station. The staff conducts daily atmospheric measurements being part of the long-term research programme. Minister Hendricks attended a weather balloon launch with Lochte and AWIPEV station leader Verena Mohaupt.
Please find further information on the website of the Ministery.