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Press Release
Change of Shifts at the North Pole
As the second leg of the one-year-long MOSAiC expedition begins, participants review the mission so far
[16. December 2019]
After exchanging research teams and crewmembers, the greatest expedition to the Central Arctic of all time is now entering the next phase, during which urgently needed research into the Arctic climate system will be conducted. In the following paragraphs, the team from the first leg of the journey, which was dominated by thin sea ice, review the mission so far: despite extremely challenging conditions, they maintained a steady flow of scientific data. The new team will now face the darkest and coldest research phase: the Arctic winter, which has never been researched before.
Antarctica
Antarctica’s Delicate Face
A new map reveals the landforms hidden beneath the ice in unprecedented detail. This will support more accurate forecasts concerning the future of the glaciers and sea-level rise.
[12. December 2019]
When climate change causes Antarctica’s glaciers to flow out to sea faster, it’s not good news: when this happens, the frozen giants lose more and more ice, which, when it melts, raises the sea level.
Modelling
Can Arctic ‘ice management’ combat climate change?
A new AWI study shows that a radical geo-engineering concept could potentially slow sea-ice retreat, but not global warming
[05. December 2019]
According to a much-debated geo-engineering approach, both sea-ice retreat and global warming could be slowed by using millions of wind-powered pumps, drifting in the sea ice, to promote ice formation during the Arctic winter. AWI researchers have now, for the first time, tested the concept using a complex climate model and published their findings in the journal Earth’s Future. Their verdict is sobering: though the approach could potentially put off ice-free Arctic summers for a few more decades, beyond the Arctic the massive campaign wouldn’t produce any meaningful cooling effect.
Climate Research
Changes in high-altitude winds over the South Pacific produce long-term effects on the Antarctic
New findings from the field of Earth history are improving our grasp of climate mechanisms
![[Translate to English:] Satellitenbild mit heutigem Sedimenteintrag von Flüssen in Zentral-Chile](/fileadmin/_processed_/f/6/csm_chilesediment_tmo_2019182_lrg_4679d92a00.jpeg "[Translate to English:] Satellitenbild mit heutigem Sedimenteintrag von Flüssen in Zentral-Chile")
[04. November 2019]
In the past million years, the high-altitude winds of the southern westerly wind belt, which spans nearly half the globe, didn’t behave as uniformly over the Southern Pacific as previously assumed. Instead, they varied cyclically over periods of ca. 21,000 years. A new study has now confirmed close ties between the climate of the mid and high latitudes and that of the tropics in the South Pacific, which has consequences for the carbon budget of the Pacific Southern Ocean and the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
MOSAiC Expedition
A fortress of ice and snow
MOSAiC expedition begins its ice drift on a floe at 85 degrees north and 137 degrees east
[04. October 2019]
After only a few days of searching, experts from the MOSAiC expedition have now found a suitable ice floe, where they will set up the research camp for their one-year-long drift through the Arctic Ocean. Consequently, one of the most important milestones in the expedition has been reached ahead of schedule, and before the Polar Night falls. Nevertheless, the search, which involved satellite imagery, two icebreakers, helicopter flights and scouting missions on the surface of the ice, was an enormous challenge – partly because, after the warm summer, there were very few sufficiently thick floes in the expedition’s start region.
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