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Current rates of plastic emissions globally may trigger effects that we will not be able to reverse, researchers from Germany, Sweden and Norway report in a new study published in the prestigious journal Science on 2 July. According to the authors, plastic pollution is a global threat, and actions to drastically reduce emissions of plastic to the environment are ”the rational policy response”.

The Arctic is changing faster than average due to global warming. While some alarming effects, such as melting glaciers and sea ice, can be observed directly, most of the permafrost’s melting takes place deep below the surface. However, since the permafrost stores huge quantities of carbon, which is released in the form of carbon dioxide and methane when it thaws, there is a danger that continued thawing will further worsen global warming. In order to collect reliable, up-to-date information on permafrost thawing, the joint project UndercoverEisAgenten…

The joint Memorandum of Understanding between the Arctic University of Norway (UiT) and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) was first signed five years ago and extended today for another five years. With the extension, both institutions recognize again the great potential of their scientific collaboration, declare to further expand and intensify it. As one of the most important partners in Arctic research, UiT and AWI share many common projects, such as MOSAiC. 

On Sunday afternoon, the research icebreaker Polarstern returned from its roughly one month-long Arctic expedition to the Fram Strait between Greenland and Spitsbergen. In the so-called Hausgarten of the Alfred Wegener Institute there, the approximately 50 scientific expedition participants continued their more than 20 years of long-term research on the effects of global climate change on the Arctic ecosystem. Polarstern will spend the coming months in the shipyard for extensive maintenance work.

The 43rd Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, which France is hosting this year in Paris, adopted on 23 June 2021, the day of the 60th anniversary of the entry into force of the Antarctica Treaty (23 June 1961), a declaration reaffirming the commitment of the Consultative Parties to the principles and objectives of this Treaty. More information.

Our planet’s strongest ocean current, which circulates around Antarctica, plays a major role in determining the transport of heat, salt and nutrients in the ocean. An international research team led by the Alfred Wegener Institute has now evaluated sediment samples from the Drake Passage. Their findings: during the last interglacial period, the water flowed more rapidly than it does today. This could be a blueprint for the future and have global consequences. For example, the Southern Ocean’s capacity to absorb CO2 could decrease, which would in turn…

In spring 2020, the MOSAiC expedition documented an unparalleled loss of ozone in the Arctic stratosphere. As an evaluation of meteorological data and model-based simulations by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) now indicates, ozone depletion in the Arctic polar vortex could intensify by the end of the century unless global greenhouse gases are rapidly and systematically reduced. In the future, this could also mean more UV radiation exposure in Europe, North America and Asia when parts of the polar vortex…

Many international organizations, including the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS), will share their knowledge for the first time at a joint event. AWI Director and marine biologist Antje Boetius will be involved in various program items, such as the live chat on "Sun, global change and microbes" on June 22 starting at 2:00 pm. The event, which will last several days, will be held online and exclusively in English. Further information.

The Black Sea is an extraordinary body of water: below a depth of 150 metres, it contains no free oxygen, and no higher life forms can survive there. At the same time, the inland sea stores a comparatively high volume of organic carbon. A team of researchers led by Dr Gonzalo Gomez-Saez from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and Dr Jutta Niggemann from the University of Oldenburg’s Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM) have now put forward a new hypothesis as to why organic…

The European Union will provide 15 million euros from the Horizon 2020 Programme to fund the Arctic PASSION project for the period 2021 to 2025. Under the leadership of the Alfred Wegener Institute, a consortium of 35 partners will promote the integration of international environmental observing systems for the Arctic and improve the tailoring of these systems to the needs of various user groups ranging from local inhabitants to academia through to industry and decision-makers.