News

After several years of service under harsh weather conditions, the rotor blades of offshore wind parks are subjected to degradation and surface erosion, releasing sizeable quantities of particle emissions into the environment. A team of researchers led by the Alfred Wegener Institute has now investigated the effects of these particle on blue mussels – a species also being considered for the multi-use of wind parks for aquaculture. In the experiment, the mussels absorbed metals from the rotor blades’ coatings, as the team describes in a study just…

KomSO - a new cooperation under the Federal Environment Ministry's Natural Climate Protection Action Programme (ANK): The kick-off meeting took place from 5 to 6 December 2024 at the HWK in Delmenhorst. The project is funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and coordinated by Sabine Kasten from the AWI. The aim is to investigate the carbon storage capacity of marine sediments in the German Baltic Sea in order to identify areas with particularly high climate protection potential. More information.

Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, heatwaves at sea – 2023 set a number of alarming new records. The global mean temperature also rose to nearly 1.5 degrees above the preindustrial level, another record. Seeking to identify the causes of this sudden rise has proven a challenge for researchers. After all, factoring in the effects of anthropogenic influences like the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, of the weather phenomenon El Niño, and of natural events like volcanic eruptions, can account for a major portion of the warming. But…

The long-term analysis of blue whale and fin whale vocalisations in the eastern Fram Strait offers valuable insights into seasonal and annual patterns regarding these species’ occurrence in the region. For example, blue whales can primarily be heard in the summer and autumn, whereas the acoustic data on fin whales indicates that their occurrence is much longer and more variable. The unprecedented long-term dataset also confirms the sporadic occurrenceof blue whales – the largest fauna on the planet – during the winter months. The team of researchers, led…

Prince Albert II of Monaco honors the merits of AWI Director Antje Boetius with her induction into the Order of St. Charles

Frank Wilhelms, head of the Glaciology section and the Ice Core Group at the AWI, was unanimously elected as the new Managing Director of the German Society for Polar Research (DGP) at the general assembly. The DGP supports research in the polar regions through projects and the exchange of information and resources among scientists. The board would like to thank Ralf Tiedemann, who held the position from 2010 to 2024.

The special exhibition on the MOSAiC expedition has moved on from Berlin to Munich: under the motto “Join us on a climate expedition!”, the exhibition invites visitors to the Deutsches Museum Verkerhtszentrum to step aboard the Polarstern and recreate an expedition. From polar clothing and sledges to many measuring instruments, many original items from the “MOSAiC” Arctic expedition are on display. “Thin Ice” is primarily aimed at children and can be seen from now until November 9, 2025. More information.

This weekend, the research vessel Polarstern is scheduled to depart from her homeport in Bremerhaven. In addition to the crew, 33 scientific expedition participants will be on board – primarily young researchers whose job it will be to familiarise themselves with using echosounders to survey the ocean floor.

The Highly Cited Researchers list is an annual award from Clarivate that recognises the world's leading scientists who have demonstrated a significant and broad impact in their field of research through their published work. This year's list includes four AWI scientists: Hans-Otto Pörtner, Guido Grosse, Sebastian Primpke and Gunnar Gerdts. With their outstanding research achievements, they contribute to the scientific debate in their fields.
 

The retreat of Arctic sea ice and the melting of land ice sheets around Greenland lead to more and more freshwater flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. A recent study by AWI climate modeler Qiyun Ma provides brand new insights into how freshwater released from different regions affects and weakens the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The study identifies the Irminger Basin as the region most responsive to additional freshwater and as a key driver of AMOC changes. Regarding the potential slowdown of the AMOC in the future, the authors…