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The climatic and environmental history of our planet is hidden in the ice: it harbours information on the temperature development and atmospheric composition dating back centuries and even millennia. In the context of the project Beyond EPICA-Oldest Ice, an international team of researchers hopes to unlock that information – by retrieving a core sample from the deep ice of the Antarctic, which contains climate data from the past 1.5 million years. Experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute make up part of the team. Initial drilling is about to begin.

Microplastics are everywhere, even in the most remote places. Where do these tiny pieces of plastic come from? Researchers from the University of Basel and the Alfred Wegener Institute have shown that it takes precise analysis to answer this question.

The aim of the "Seabed 2030" project is to bring together all available bathymetric data to produce the definitive map of the world ocean floor by 2030 and make it available to all. The AWI is an integral part of the Seabed 2030 project. On December 1st from 2 p.m. the "Map the Gaps Symposium" will be organized. Topics such as mapping and data processing technology, deep water exploration and alumni activities are shared and discussed. This year's event is virtually hosted by IOC Africa and all are welcome. 
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Today, the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) publishes a new impulse paper on planetary health, on which AWI biologist Prof. Hans-Otto Pörtner worked as a member. With this paper, the WBGU wants to initiate a discussion on health and global sustainability. The results and insights gained from it are intended to inspire the preparation of the main report on this topic, which is scheduled for publication in 2023.
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In response to climate change, the massive Thwaites Glacier in the West Antarctic is melting faster and faster. If it collapses completely, it could have catastrophic effects on the global sea level and the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. As part of a major international collaboration, in the year to come experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) plan to use seismic waves to take a peek underneath the gargantuan glacier and investigate the features of the ground that it flows over. The…

Hosted by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the International Vista Seminar 2021 will take place on November 17 under the title "Subsea floor processes and a sustainable ocean". There, AWI Director Antje Boetius will give a lecture at 3:00 p.m. on the topic "Hydrothermal vents and deep sea mining - are we interfering with the “origins of life”?". The event can be followed via livestream. 
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The "Orchester des Wandels" is a non-profit association of musicians from all over Germany. Together they draw attention to climate change and deal with the climate crisis in creative concert formats. In the course of the UN climate conference COP26, the orchestra calls for immediate action: "COP26 act now!".
To the current video of the Orchestra of Change

 

Melting glaciers are a major contributor to global sea-level rise. In order to project the latter as precisely as possible, all relevant processes at work in the world’s large glaciers must be simulated as realistically as possible in computer models. In most simulations, the ice is exclusively depicted as a flowing body. But, as a new modelling study led by the Alfred Wegener Institute confirms, this approach neglects the ice’s qualities as a solid body. Accordingly, using the example of a glacier on the coast of Greenland, the experts showed that ocean…

As part of the 150th anniversary of the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfunug (BAM), lectures on "Science with Impact" will be held throughout the year. On November 11 at 4:00 pm, AWI Director Antje Boetius will speak on this in her webinar "Global change microbiology - big questions about small life for our future". The event can be attended online for free.
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At this international and interdisciplinary forum for the scientific dialogue between researchers and society, sea ice physicist Stefanie Arndt and MOSAiC project leader Markus Rex from the Alfred Wegener Institute will speak on November 9 from 12:25 p.m. under the title "Breaking The Wall To Measuring Climate Change". The event will be streamed live from the Radialsystem in Berlin.

Livestream and further information