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Global plastic pollution is steadily increasing: To meet the challenge, the Helmholtz Zentum Hereon has developed a digital English-language information platform on plastic pollution: the "Microplastic Compendium". Through the platform, the aim is to raise awareness of the pollution of the environment with plastic waste and the resulting microplastics. AWI scientists Melanie Bergmann, Ilka Peeken and Mine Tekmann contributed to the site on the topic of plastic in the Arctic.

On 1 April, the German Environmental Satellite EnMAP was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Over the next several years, the hyperspectral mission will gather images of the Earth’s surface in about. 250 colours (“spectral bands”), offering unparalleled information on the current state of the planet’s vegetation, soils and waters. The Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) will also use this data for future analyses of climatic and environmental phenomena around the…

Even the High North can’t escape the global threat of plastic pollution. An international review study just released by the Alfred Wegener Institute shows, the flood of plastic has reached all spheres of the Arctic: large quantities of plastic - transported by rivers, the air and shipping- can now be found in the Arctic Ocean. High concentrations of microplastic can be found in the water, on the seafloor, remote beaches, in rivers, and even in ice and snow. The plastic is not only a burden for ecosystems; it could also worsen climate change. The study…

AWI Director Antje Boetius will give an online presentation on the "One Ocean Summit & Polar Symposium" on March 26 at the annual meeting of the "Forum of Arctic Research Operators (FARO)". The forum takes place as part of the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) in Tromsø. The aim of the event is to strengthen cooperation between the scientific organizations involved in Arctic research. To registration

In mid-March 2022, there was a massive influx of warm air into the Arctic, with several unusual phenomena such as heavy rain over the sea ice and massive clouds reaching almost as high as in the tropics. The international research campaign HALO-(AC)3 is investigating the processes causing the above-average increase in temperatures in the Arctic during the last decades. At two to three degrees Celsius over the last 50 years, this increase is much larger than the warming that has taken place in other regions on Earth. This phenomenon is referred to as…

On 15 March 2022, berufundfamilie Service GmbH awarded the audit certificate, a recognised quality seal, to 65 companies, institutes and universities for a successful family policy. This year, the Alfred Wegener Institute was honoured for the sixth time and received the certificate with predicate, which stands for the special recognition of many years of sustainable family- and life-phase-conscious personnel policy. The AWI received the award for the first time in 2005 and will now carry the certificate for another three years. More information

Ronald van Roeden discussed current research topics during his visit to Bremerhaven today. Participating in the meeting were (from left to right) Hylke Huibert Boerstra (Dutch Honorary Consul), Willemijn van der Toorn (Dutch Deputy Consul General), Dick van der Kroef (Director of the Dutch Arctic Programme, NWO), Ronald van Roeden (Dutch Ambassador), Karsten Wurr (Director of Administration, AWI), Nicole Biebow (Head of the International Cooperation Unit, AWI) and Uwe Nixdorf (Deputy Director and Head of Logistics, AWI).

Ultraviolet light from the sun has a critical influence on life in, and the chemistry of, our oceans. Consequently, these effects have to be reflected as accurately as possible in climate models, to deliver accurate forecasts. Experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) and the Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP) at the University of Bremen have now succeeded in using readings taken by the TROPOMI sensor on board the satellite Sentinel-5P to calculate the diffusion of UV light in the oceans. The study, which was just released in the journal Fron…

At the beginning of February, an international expedition team set off for Antarctica to find Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship - the Endurance - which sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915. Three weeks after the start, the team was able to locate the previously lost wreck. Researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute were also on board.

Yesterday, AWI Director Antje Boetius took part in a discussion with the German Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke and Academy President Gerald Haug (ETHZ) at the Leopoldina National Academy of Sciences. They spoke about measures to combat climate change and the contribution that science-based policy advice can make. Other Leopoldina members Katrin Böhning-Gaeser (SBiK-F) and Robert Schögl (MPI CEC) were also involved in the discussion.