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[19. July 2024]  Exactly 100 years ago, Germany’s northernmost research facilities on the North Sea island Sylt were opened. What began as a small field outpost for oyster research in 1924 would evolve into a modern, fully equipped research station that has been part of the Alfred Wegener Institute since 1998. Today, the AWI Wadden Sea Station on Sylt is pursuing answers to what is likely the most important question concerning the fragile ecosystem at its doorstep: how will climate change affect the Wadden Sea and North Sea in the long term?

[04. July 2024]  In recent years global warming has left its mark on the Antarctic ice sheets. The "eternal" ice in Antarctica is melting faster than previously assumed, particularly in West Antarctica more than East Antarctica. The root for this could lie in its formation, as an international research team led by the Alfred Wegener Institute has now discovered: sediment samples from drill cores combined with complex climate and ice-sheet modelling show that permanent glaciation of Antarctica began around 34 million years ago – but did not encompass the entire continent as previously assumed, but rather was confined to the eastern region of the continent (East Antarctica). It was not until at least 7 million years later that ice was able to advance towards West Antarctic coasts.  …

[10. June 2024]  The depths of the Weddell Sea are home to diverse biotic communities consisting of sponges, cold water corals, and countless other organisms. Moreover, as climate change progresses, this ice-ladden region could offer a refuge for ice-dependent algae and fauna, from krill to Weddell seals. In the new EU project WOBEC, the Alfred Wegener Institute, as the coordinator of a consortium of eleven institutions from Europe and the US, will establish the basis for systematic, long-term observations of potential changes in this unique ecosystem. The project, which has been allocated ca. 1.9 million euros of funding, will develop a strategy for monitoring changes in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) proposed by the EU and various states in the Weddell Sea. WOBEC will be based on the…

[05. June 2024]  For the past 25 years, the Alfred Wegener Institute has operated a long-term observatory in the Arctic deep sea: the HAUSGARTEN. Located between Greenland and Svalbard, it is where researchers investigate natural and climate-change-related changes in a polar, marine ecosystem – from the ocean’s surface to the seafloor, 5,500 metres below. Many of the observatory’s stations are located below the sea ice, while its autonomous systems take measurements year-round, i.e., even when left unmanned.

[04. June 2024]  Researchers around the globe are sounding the alarm: ocean temperatures are the warmest ever recorded. In 2023, the North Sea also experienced dramatic record highs, as readings taken by the Alfred Wegener Institute’s Biological Institute Helgoland indicate. As data from the time series “Helgoland Reede” also reveal: it’s not the first year in which the German Bight experienced marine heatwaves. The high temperatures and extreme weather events are a product of climate change and could have substantial impacts on the ecosystem.