Archive of News and Press Releases
Oceanography
After nearly a week at sea, the oceanographic station work falls into routine: CTD (conductivity – temperature – pressure probe) in the water – lowering to the bottom – hoisting – CTD aboard. This is frequently followed by the deployment of an Argo float, freely drifting profiling probes which will regularly provide the oceanographic key parameters, temperature and salt, from within the upper 2000m of the ocean for the next 5 years.
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A full loaded vessel
As planned, Polarstern pushes away from the pier in Cape Town on 15 December at 4pm, taking off for her 117th expedition to the Antarctic.
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German-Russian Cooperation
Scientists and political representatives are meeting in Rostock today, including AWI Director Antje Boetius. Cooperation in marine and polar research is an essential aspect of German-Russian research cooperation.
Satellite orbits and laser beams
On our way further south, we sailed on various courses and with different speeds.
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Science Day at the Alfred Wegener Institute
December 7 is the day of junior researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute. From 9:00 to 15:00, graduates of all disciplines present their work in the lecture hall. AWI director Antje Boetius welcomes the PhD students, junior group leader Scarlett Trimborn gives a keynote lecture.
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Global Carbon Budget released
At the UN Climate Conference in Katowice, Poland, this year’s Global Carbon Budget was released. For the purpose of the budget, researchers estimate the anthropogenic carbon budget for the planet as a whole; this includes the sources (emissions), the carbon sinks on land and in the ocean, and the carbon content of the atmosphere. The report provides the figures for the year 2017 and offers an initial indicator of the general trend for 2018.
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How larches are conquering Siberia’s high northern reaches
Researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research have for the first time reconstructed the historical development of the larch forests in northern Siberia over the past 9,000 years. This allowed them to identify, which factors determine the ranges of various larch species, and to gauge the forests’ capacity for absorbing carbon dioxide – an aspect that is directly relevant with regard to potential shifts in the larches’ ranges in the future. Their findings indicate that not air temperature alone determines…
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Climate refugee Cod
The latest research conducted by AWI experts that the chances of survival for the offspring of important fish species will dramatically worsen, if the 1.5 ° C target of the Paris Climate Agreement is not achieved. Under conditions of further warming and acidification of the ocean, Atlantic cod and its arctic relative polar cod would be forced to look for new habitats in the far north. Their populations could dwindle. If so, this could be disastrous, as the polar cod is the most important food source for Arctic seals and seabirds. In addition, fishers…
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Polarstern in 3D
The arrival of Polarstern in the port of Las Palmas took a little longer, because the dedicated berth was occupied by another vessel. She drifted some miles away from the breakwater to wait for the pilot to come on board and the required permission to go alongside.
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