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The global production of plastics and the resulting plastic waste has increased to such an extent that plastics have become ubiquitous in our environment. Plastics of various sizes are also found along the German North Sea and Baltic coasts. Previous studies of microplastic pollution on German beaches have often been limited to a few locations. In the citizen science project “Microplastic Detectives”, researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute, together with citizens, have now collected samples from beaches along the entire German coast to be analyzed…

Northeast Greenland is home to the 79° N Glacier – the country’s largest floating glacier tongue, but also one seriously threatened by global warming: warm water from the Atlantic is melting it from below. Experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute have however now determined that the temperature of the water flowing into the glacier cavern declined from 2018 to 2021, even though the ocean has steadily warmed in the region over the past several decades. This could be due to temporarily changed atmospheric circulation patterns. In a study just released in…

Microbes were the only life form on Earth for most of the history of our planet. Even today, they still make up the majority of species that are vital to the health of our planet. They produce much of our oxygen, help plants grow, maintain biogeochemical cycles and thus sustain our ecosystems. A review in the journal Cell has now described the astonishing progress that microbiology has made in recent decades 
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Microbes were the only life form on Earth for most of the history of our planet. Even today, they still make up the majority of species that are vital to the health of our planet. They produce much of our oxygen, help plants grow, maintain biogeochemical cycles and thus sustain our ecosystems. A. Murat Eren, a researcher at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB), the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (MPIMM) and the Carl von…

The 21st Coastal Summer School, which brought 17 young researchers from eight countries to the Biological Institute Helgoland, came to an end. This year, the participants delved deep into topics relating to offshore wind farms and get an idea of how they can be integrated into ecosystems in various ways. The Alfred Wegener Institute, the Helmholtz Center Hereon and the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde, together with other research institutions, gave participants theoretical and practical insights into their projects, while an industry…

AWI Director Antje Boetius has received the 6th international “Global Compact Award” from the TÜV Rheinland Foundation. This award recognizes the polar and deep-sea researcher's commitment to research work and communication. The TÜV Rheinland Foundation awards the prize, which is endowed with 25,000 euros, to individuals whose work demonstrates a comprehensive commitment to sustainability and the goals of the United Nations Global Compact.

The doors of our Wadden Sea Station on Sylt were open to the public on Saturday, 7 September - and the interest of Sylt residents, islanders and tourists in celebrating our 100th birthday was huge.

While the warm Baltic Sea water is inviting for swimming, the warming of the sea also brings risks. Rising temperatures promote the spread of vibrios, bacteria that can cause serious infections. Such challenges require a deep understanding of the interactions between extreme marine events and natural hazards as well as their long-term consequences for humans and the environment. This is precisely where the research mission mareXtreme - Pathways to Improved Risk Management, coordinated at MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University…

The "European Polar Science Week" aims to bring together the European polar research community to discuss current research findings and future projects. The event is taking place from 3 to 6 September in Copenhagen. As a leading research institution in the field of polar and marine research, the AWI is also involved. On the first day, AWI Director Antje Boetius gave a presentation on the project "Antarctica InSync".

Photosynthesis can take place in nature even at extremely low light levels. This is the result of an international study that investigated the development of Arctic microalgae at the end of the polar night. The measurements were carried out as part of the MOSAiC expedition at 88° northern latitude and revealed that even this far north, microalgae can build up biomass through photosynthesis as early as the end of March. At this time, the sun is barely above the horizon, so that it is still almost completely dark in the microalgae's habitat under the snow…