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The findings raise fresh concerns about the increasing spread of pollutants and the potential consequences for fragile polar ecosystems as climate change accelerates. The research, published today in Nature Communications and led by the University of Bristol, provides the clearest ever picture of how the underlying transport system, known as the Transpolar Draft, operates. It also uncovers the various factors controlling this major Arctic surface current, including warmer temperatures which could increase the spread of human-made pollutants. The…

Polarstern returned to her home port of Bremerhaven at high tide this morning. After a good 20 weeks in the Antarctic season, the research vessel moored at the pier in the overseas harbour at 5:00 am. Over the next six weeks, routine maintenance and repair work will take place at the Lloyd Werft shipyard before the ship leaves for the Arctic at the end of May.

Der Antarktische Zirkumpolarstrom ist die größte Ozeanströmung der Welt, der immer im Uhrzeigersinn um die Antarktis herumströmt. Er transportiert Wärme sowie Nährstoffe und übernimmt dadurch eine wichtige Rolle für unser Klima. Trotz dieser Bedeutung wissen wir noch relativ wenig über sein Verhalten. Um dem Verständnis der Strömung einen Schritt näher zu kommen, haben Forschende des Alfred-Wegener-Instituts und des Leibniz-Instituts für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde aus einem Sedimentdatensatz rekonstruiert, wie der Antarktische Zirkumpolarstrom in den…

A book for all those who want to address the challenges of climate change and contribute to the necessary solutions is now freely available from SpringerBriefs in Climate Studies. Students interviewed leading climate scientists about what motivates and inspires them and how exciting and inspiring working in this field can be. The book offers a look behind the scenes and provides personal insights into how complex and frustrating climate science can be.

The Arctic is changing rapidly due to climate change: sea surface and air temperatures are increasing, the sea ice is thinning and retreating more and more. This has a major impact on the local ecosystem, because: The zone directly under the sea ice is a highly dynamic habitat for a variety of organisms. A research team from the Alfred Wegener Institute has now investigated what these organisms are and how they are affected by the melting ice in the northern Fram Strait. They present their findings in the journal Science of The Total Environment.

In recognition of her services to science, to the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research and to Bremen as a location for science, Prof. Antje Boetius has been awarded the Bremen Senate Medal for Art and Science. The Mayor of Bremen, Dr Andreas Bovenschulte, and the Senator for the Environment, Climate and Science, Kathrin Moosdorf, presented Prof. Boetius with her medal and certificate at a ceremony in the Upper Hall at Bremen Town Hall. The Senate had passed a motion approving the honour in June 2024. Musicians from…

A recent study in the journal Science traces the natural cycles of the Earth's climate over a period of one million years. The international research team analysed sediment core data and looked at past climate changes between ice ages and interglacial periods.

There is a greater variety of hydrothermal systems in the deep sea than previously assumed. This is the result of a recent study lead by MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and the Faculty of Geosciences at the University of Bremen. On an expedition with the research icebreaker POLARSTERN, researchers discovered the northernmost hydrothermal field on Earth here – only around 300 kilometers from the North Pole. This discovery suggests that research into hydrothermal activity in the deep sea needs to be rethought. The results were published in…

Like a conveyor belt, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) transports warm water from the tropics northwards at the ocean surface and cold water southwards in the deep sea. Through this heat distribution, it plays a central role in the global climate system. However, increasing global warming as a result of climate change is altering the circulation patterns of the AMOC. In a recent study, researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute found that this change has led to asynchronous poleward shifts of the Atlantic subtropical gyre in…

The Arctic plays a central role in the global climate system, particularly through its function as a carbon sink. However, climate change could disrupt its balance. An international research team headed by the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has presented a comprehensive analysis of the current state of the Arctic carbon cycle. The results, which have been published in the scientific journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, provide new and updated numbers and highlight existing uncertainties.