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After exchanging research teams and crewmembers, the greatest expedition to the Central Arctic of all time is now entering the next phase, during which urgently needed research into the Arctic climate system will be conducted. In the following paragraphs, the team from the first leg of the journey, which was dominated by thin sea ice, review the mission so far: despite extremely challenging conditions, they maintained a steady flow of scientific data. The new team will now face the darkest and coldest research phase: the Arctic winter, which has never…

When climate change causes Antarctica’s glaciers to flow out to sea faster, it’s not good news: when this happens, the frozen giants lose more and more ice, which, when it melts, raises the sea level. But how quickly this takes place, and at what scale, doesn’t just depend on rising temperatures; the bed below the ice also plays a critical role. After all, while some types of terrain can slow ice loss, others can accelerate it. Until recently, however, not enough was known about the topography below the ice to gauge these risks. A new map, which experts…

Since the 1990s, the Greenland Ice Sheet has been seriously out of balance. Just as in the past, every year the snowfall there forms about 730 billion tonnes of new ice. But at the same time, Greenland is losing nearly 995 billion tonnes of ice each year, as reported in an article in the journal Nature, prepared by 89 researchers, who combined data from eleven different satellites. Accordingly, since 1992 Greenland has lost approximately 3,800 billion tonnes, and the meltwater produced has raised the global sea level by more than a centimetre.

Supported by the AWI researchers from the Charité set out to determine whether or not an Antarctic expedition produces changes to the structure and function of the human brain.

According to a much-debated geo-engineering approach, both sea-ice retreat and global warming could be slowed by using millions of wind-powered pumps, drifting in the sea ice, to promote ice formation during the Arctic winter. AWI researchers have now, for the first time, tested the concept using a complex climate model and published their findings in the journal Earth’s Future. Their verdict is sobering: though the approach could potentially put off ice-free Arctic summers for a few more decades, beyond the Arctic the massive campaign wouldn’t produce…

What amount of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), is released into the atmosphere year after year, and how much can be absorbed by the land and oceans? The Global Carbon Project (GCP), a worldwide consortium of climate researchers, has published annual reports since 2006. According to the GCP’s latest report, global carbon emissions continued to rise in 2019, although more slowly than in previous years. While less coal was burnt on a global scale, the growing use of natural gas and increased emissions from land use more than made up for…

Climate goals: why a crisis can still be avoided - AWI director Antje Boetius gave a lecture on this topic at the Schwarzkopf Foundation. Afterwards she discussed with the audience what each individual can do to get involved in climate protection.

AWI director Antje Boetius presented the MOSAiC expedition in a lecture at the autumn event of the Brussels-based Helmholtz office. The event was titled "Understanding tomorrow's climate: What science can tell us."

Strengthen cooperation and create connections: Together with AWI employees, Antje Boetius and Karsten Wurr welcomed the ambassador of the Republic of Chile in Germany, Cecilia Mackenna Echaurren, and the honorary consul, Reinhard R. Kütter, to the AWI.

In recognition of her outstanding scientific contributions, Prof Antje Boetius, Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, was recently awarded the “2019 Erna Hamburger Prize”.