Press releases
Here you can find the press releases of the Alfred Wegener Institute. Please note, that the images contained in the press releases are for use in connection with the press release, exclusively. For any other usage, please contact our communications department.
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20. August 2010: Is the ice in the Arctic Ocean getting thinner and thinner? Research aircraft Polar 5 measures thickness of sea ice north of Greenland
The extent of the sea ice in the Arctic will reach its annual minimum in September. Forecasts indicate that it will not be as low as in 2007, the year of the smallest area covered by sea ice since satellites started recording such data. Nevertheless, sea ice physicists at the Alfred Wegener Institute are concerned about the long-term equilibrium in the Arctic Ocean. They have indications that the mass of sea ice is dwindling because its thickness is declining.Around a third to half of the freshwater export from the Arctic Ocean takes place in this way – a major drive factor in the global ocean current system.
Is the ice in the Arctic Ocean getting thinner and thinner?
30. July 2010: NEEM Deep Ice Core Drilling Project in Greenland Reaches Bedrock – Conclusions on Climate Conditions and Sea Level Rise in Geological Past Expected
Bedrock has been reached Tuesday July 27 2010 at the deep ice core drilling site NEEM on the Greenland Ice Sheet at the depth 2537.36 m. The Eemian is the last interglacial period, when climate was warmer than today, and sea level 5 meters higher, and is our best analogue for future climate. Scientists from 14 nations participated in NEEM, the most international ice core effort to date. After five years of work, ice from the warm interglacial Eemian period, 130.000 to 115.000 years before present and even older ice has been recovered. The last 2 m of ice above the bedrock contains rocks and other material that has not seen sunlight for hundreds of thousands of years.
NEEM Deep Ice Core Drilling Project in Greenland Reaches Bedrock
26. July 2010: Highlight of the Polarstern expedition: Autonomous Underwater Vehicle of the Alfred Wegener Institute dives under the Arctic ice for the first time
The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association for the first time sent its Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) on an under-ice mission at about 79° North.
14. July 2010: 30 years of Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research - Ice, sea and climate – research to understand our Earth better
The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association will be thirty years old on 15 July. Through its innovative scientific and excellent research infrastructure the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) has developed into one of the world’s leading internationally recognised centres for climate research on both polar regions and the oceans.
30 years of Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
24. June 2010: Higher wetland methane emissions caused by climate warming 40,000 years ago
40,000 years ago rapid warming led to an increase in methane concentration. The culprit for this increase has now been identified. Mainly wetlands in high northern lati-tudes caused the methane increase, as discovered by a research team from the University of Bern and the German Alfred Wegener Institute.
To press release: Higher wetland methane emissions caused by climate warming 40,000 years ago
23. June 2010: Sea ice in the Arctic does not recover
A critical minimum for Arctic sea ice can also be expected for late summer 2010. Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute and from KlimaCampus of the University of Hamburg have now published data in this context in the annual issue of Sea Ice Outlook.
To press release: Sea ice in the Arctic does not recover
23. June 2010: Scientists at Alfred Wegener Institute appointed to key positions for new IPCC Assessment Report
The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) announced the authors and experts for its fifth Assessment Report in Geneva. They include Prof. Peter Lemke and Prof. Hans-Otto Pörtner from the Alfred Wegener Institute.
9. June 2010: Polarstern launches 25th Arctic expedition – research in Greenland Sea, Fram Strait and Baffin Bay
Tomorrow the Polarstern research vessel sets off on its 25th Arctic expedition. From Bremerhaven it will first set course for the Greenland Sea, where primarily oceanographic work is on the agenda. Over 120 scientists and technicians from six nations are taking part in the three legs of the expedition. The Polarstern is expected back in Bremerhaven on 10 October.
Polarstern launches 25th Arctic expedition
3. June 2010: How did higher life evolve?
Scientists have for the first time determined the complete genome sequence of a brown alga and opened a new door to the understanding of multicellularity and photosynthesis.
To our press release: First sequencing of a brown algal genome
2. June 2010: Seal Bulls in the Service of Science
“Gustavo” is an imposing bull always in search of the best feeding grounds. The elephant seal weighing 3 tons and measuring 4 metres in length belongs to a group of 14 animals that serve researchers of the Alfred Wegener Institute as scientific assistants since recently.
To press release: Seal Bulls in the Service of Science