Press Releases in 2002
5. December 2002: Airlift to Antarctic
Scientific Summer Season starts In the early hours of 28.11.2002, the polar aircraft of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), 'Polar 2' and 'Polar 4', landed safely at the German research station 'Neumayer' in the Antarctic. The nine overwinterers, who have been manning the observatories alone since March, greeted their first visitors in months and were delighted to receive post and, above all, fresh fruit. Scientific work at the end of the world now begins for the 52 men and women who are taking part in the AWI summer campaign.
28. November 2002: One million nautical miles between the North and South Poles
Research ship Polarstern’s 20th year Twenty years ago, on 9th December 1982, the German research ice-breaker Polarstern was commissioned. Since then, Polarstern has completed eighteen research cruises in the Arctic and is currently on her twentieth cruise in the Antarctic. Scientific work on board, in disciplines including biology, geology, glaciology, geophysics, chemistry, oceanography and meteorology, is important for global environmental and climate studies. The ship also undertakes crucial logistical tasks, bringing supplies to the Neumayer Station in the Antarctic. In 2002, Polarstern was painted with the logo ‘Planet Erde’ (Planet Earth), and set sail as an international ambassador for the Year of Geosciences.
11. November 2002: Clouds of Plankton in the Ocean
AWI scientists have compiled a special volume on the results of a recent reseach expedition. Scientists at the Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) have compiled a special volume of the renowned scientific journal "Deep Sea Research II: "Topical Studies in Oceanography". Under the title "Mesoscale Physics, Biogeochemistry and Ecology of the Antarctic Polar Front, Atlantic Sector", Dr. Volker Strass, Professor Dr. Ulrich Bathmann and Professor Dr. Victor Smetacek describe new results concerning their research on Antarctic cirum-polarcurrent ecosystems.
14. October 2002: In the Wake of Alfred Wegener
'Polarstern' returns from the continental shelf of Greenland On October 15th, the research ship 'Polarstern' of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research returned to Bremerhaven following her 18th Arctic cruise. During the four month trip, around a hundred scientists spent time aboard, gathering data on continental drift between Svalbard and Greenland, the ocean currents in the Fram Strait and along the coast of Greenland and about life in the ice and in the deep sea. The ice edge was found suprisingly far north. 'Polarstern' covered her millionth sea-mile for research during this cruise.
16. September 2002: Acknowledgement for the AWI School Project
The school project of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) has received special acknowledgement. After the appearance of an article in the world renowned scientific journal “Nature” the Helmholtz community of German research centers (HGF) will promote the school project for three years with a total sum of 26,2910 euro.
6. September 2002: Greenhouse gases from Siberia
Researchers from Potsdam complete an eleven week expedition to the Lenadelta On the 11th September a Potsdamer expedition team, lead by Prof. Dr. Hans-Wolfgang Hubberten returned back to Germany after eleven weeks of research in Siberia. Fifteen scientists and technicians from the Potsdam Research Centre, part of the Alfred-Wegener-Institute (AWI) for Polar and Marine Research, together with twelve Russian collegues took part in the fifth expedition to the Lenadelta. They collected data in an attempt to try and predict past and future climatic changes. The permanently frozen soil in Siberia is a large producer of the greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide. Both gases play a large role in global climate change. Research has already shown that small environmental changes seen in the arctic, can effect the climate back here in Germany.
1. August 2002: Abitur Students at the AWI
First school day at a research Institute 22 pupils from Bremerhaven schools are receiving their science lessons in a wide variety of subjects at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Over the next 3 years the students will prepare for their Abitur (final year examinations) in biology, chemistry, mathematics and english. The senator for science and education in the free Hanseatic city of Bremen, Wilfried Lemke, and the director of the AWI, Professor Dr. Jörn Thiede, welcomed the new students in the Bussestraße building, in the presence of the mayor of Bremerhaven.
29. July 2002: AWI Director Jörn Thiede chosen as SCAR President
A German scientist now leads the International Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR): In their 27th biannial meeting on the 26th July in Shanghai, the committee voted the Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Prof. Dr. Jörn Thiede for a 4 year term as new president. Thiede takes the post over from Professor Robert Rutford of Texas University U.S.A. During his term in office the next SCAR meeting will be held in Summer 2004 in the state of Bremen. The SCAR delegates will meet 3rd-9th October 2004 in Bremerhaven.
17. July 2002: 100 years Aquarium Helgoland
This month, the Aquarium of the Biological Institute Helgoland (BAH) celebrates its one-hundredth birthday. Over the last 25 years, the research aquarium with its unique presentations and exhibits of typical marine life of the southern North Sea has catered to more than 1.3 million visitors.
4. July 2002: Older than Methuselah
Life at the Bottom of the Antarctic Ocean The Antarctic marine system is characterized by low temperatures and low levels of food availability. Intuitively one would assume that metabolism and growth of invertebrates living under such conditions must be slower than that of species inhabiting temperate or tropical waters. And indeed, a lot of data support this assumption. Intriguingly, very often polar invertebrates are giants when compared to closely related species living in warmer areas.