News

The northern Antarctic Circumpolar Current’s flow speed in the Drake Passage was reduced by 40 % during the last glacial in comparison with the present interglacial. This is one result of a study by Dr. Frank Lamy from the Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and colleagues in this week’s “Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences of the United States of America” (PNAS).

Understanding regional climate change, identifying the consequences and discussing the effects. The REKLIM research association’s fifth regional conference this year focuses on coastal regions. What effect does climate change have on areas between land and sea, and what are the consequences? Researchers from the Helmholz Association’s research consortium REKLIM “Regional Climate Change” discuss with representatives from politics and business the challenges facing society as a result of climate change.

The earthquake and tsunami in Chile a few days ago show how important a precise early warning system is. Scientists of the Alfred Wegener Institute support Indonesians to create new tsunami scenarios for the northeast of the archipelago.

The 50th European Marine Biology Symposium takes place on Helgoland from 21th to 25th September 2015. Around 200 participants from 24 countries meet to discuss long-term changes to environmental conditions and ecosystems. This jubilee is a return to the roots: In 1966, the Biological Institute Helgoland hosted the first of these symposiums, which have since been held annually at different locations.

In the last 30,000 years there was, at times, more mixing in the Southern Ocean than previously thought. This meant that vast quantities of nutrients were available to phytoalgae, which in turn contributed to storing the greenhouse gas CO2 during the last glacial period. Researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) present these new findings in a study published in the journal Nature Communications.

Today is the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer.

During their latest expedition on board the research vessel Sonne (So 242-2), researchers and engineers from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) successfully used the autonomous AWI robot, Tramper, for the first time on a deep-sea mission. The continuous-track vehicle’s first demo missions took place at a depth of about 4150 metres in an area of the subtropical Southeast Pacific around 850 km off the coast of Peru.

This Saturday at a conference in Quebec, Canada an international research team will present the first online data portal on global permafrost. In the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (www.gtnp.org) researchers first collect all the existing permafrost temperature and active thickness layer data from Arctic, Antarctic and mountain permafrost regions and then make it freely available for download. This new portal can serve as an early warning system for researchers and decision-makers around the globe. A detailed description of the data collection…

A decade ago scientists feared that the ability of the Southern Ocean to absorb additional atmospheric CO2 would soon be stalled. But the analysis of more recent observations show that this carbon sink reinvigorated during the past decade.

The growing world population, climate change, rapid urbanisation, and the international interdependence of economies are all increasing our vulnerability to natural hazards. Such major global challenges are the focus of the second Potsdam Summer School on "Facing Natural Hazards". From 14 to 23 September 2015, 40 young professionals from 28 countries will meet with renowned scientists from Potsdam's Earth and Environmental Science institutions as well as with international experts.