News

Nature Communications Study

Coastal erosion in the Arctic intensifies global warming

Sea level rise in the past led to the release of greenhouse gases from permafrost

[10. September 2018] 

The loss of arctic permafrost deposits by coastal erosion could amplify climate warming via the greenhouse effect. A study using sediment samples from the Sea of Okhotsk on the eastern coast of Russia led by AWI researchers revealed that the loss of Arctic permafrost at the end of the last glacial period led to repeated sudden increases in the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere.

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New Study

Kidnapping in the Antarctic animal world?

A puzzling relationship between amphipods and pteropods

[10. September 2018] 

Pteropods or sea snails, also called sea angels, produce chemical deterrents to ward off predators, and some species of amphipods take advantage of this by carrying pteropods piggyback to gain protection from their voracious predators. There is no recognisable benefit for the pteropod. On the contrary they starve: captured between the amphipod’s legs they are unable to feed.

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Highest-valued European environmental award

Prof. Antje Boetius receives the 2018 German Environmental Award

Federal President Steinmeier to honour the deep-sea and polar researcher at the end of October

[23. August 2018] 

The 2018 German Environmental Award goes to Antje Boetius and a team of wastewater experts from Leipzig. The Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) is glad to see the deep seas and polar regions, the last great expanses of unspoiled nature, attracting more attention. Helmholtz President Prof. Otmar D. Wiestler has praised Boetius as a strong advocate for preserving our oceans.

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Permafrost

How Arctic lakes are accelerating climate change

Thawing permafrost’s contribution to global warming could double by 2050

[20. August 2018] 

In the future, climate change could abruptly increase the amount of methane released by lakes in the permafrost regions of the Arctic. An international research team, including experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute, has now determined that the rapid thaw under lakes has been neglected in models so far and that bacterial decomposition of organic matter in the thawed sediments may strongly increase the emissions of the greenhouse gas methane.

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Scientific Study

Questioning conventional understanding of antifreeze proteins

Scientists describe new phenomenon possibly expanding application

[30. July 2018] 

Scientists have discovered that an ice-binding protein (fcIBP) from the sea ice microalga does not fit in the conventional classification of ice-binding proteins, suggesting unknown mechanisms behind its antifreeze property. This finding could lead to a broader application of the antifreeze protein in food and medical industries.

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