Archive of News and Press Releases
From River Weser to the North Sea
Around the globe, the pollution of rivers, lakes and seas with plastic litter is on the rise. A new project jointly coordinated by the University of Bayreuth and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) is the first to approach the problem from a holistic perspective. In the model region Weser – Wadden Sea National Park the participating researchers will use e.g. empirical and model-assisted analyses to discover how minute plastic particles (microplastics) make their way from land to sea, which input and…
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The forerunners of Greenland
In the evening of 12 September the research icebreaker R/V Polarstern left the port of Tromsø (Norway). On board there are scientists from seven nations who cover the range from physical oceanography, geochemistry, glaciology, geodesy, geology, geophysics, atmospheric physics and chemistry as well as marine biology and biogeochemistry. The aim of the “Greenland ice sheet/ocean interaction” (GRISO) expedition is to unravel the complex physical interactions between the ocean and the ice sheet of Northeast Greenland, as well as their implications for the…
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Arctic sea ice once again shows considerable melting
This September, the extent of Arctic sea ice shrank to roughly 4.7 million square kilometres, as was determined by researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute, the University of Bremen and Universität Hamburg. Though slightly larger than last year, the minimum sea ice extent 2017 is average for the past ten years and far below the numbers from 1979 to 2006. The Northeast Passage was traversable for ships without the need for icebreakers.
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In the right place at the right time
Over the next five years, nine research centres of the Helmholtz Association will collaborate to create a flexible, mobile measuring system for Earth observation: MOSES – Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems. Researchers will use this system to investigate how short-term dynamic events such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall are linked to the long-term development of Earth and environmental systems. MOSES is being coordinated at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig.
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New technical possibilities in the deep sea
The second week of our expedition was in focus of the in ROBEX new developed robotic systems.
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Expedition „ROBEX-DM“
On Tuesday August 22 at 19:00 POLARSTERN left Tromsö with an unusual freight on board into direction of Svalbard. Unusual, because 10 of the 40 scientists on board are space experts and special are also the new and innovative robotic systems, which should improve our capabilities in deep-sea research. The new technologies include 3 different types of benthic crawler, each designed for its specific scientific purpose on the bottom of the sea, a glider for water column studies, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to support AUV operations under sea ice and an…
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AWI’s underwater robot Tramper successfully recovered
On 27 August 2017, deep-sea researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) recovered the underwater robot Tramper, which had been taking measurements at a depth of 2435 metres for nearly 60 weeks – the first long-term mission involving a crawler under the Arctic sea ice. For the first 24 weeks, the robot took biogeochemical readings at various sites, just as it was intended to. Unfortunately, because of a broken tread, Tramper got stuck in the same place in January, though it continued to record the…
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Polar 6 is the first German research aircraft to traverse the North Pole
At 2:10 pm UTC on 22 August 2017, the Polar 6 became the first German research aircraft to fly over the North Pole. The aircraft “departed from (10:11 am UTC) and returned to (5:00 pm UTC) Station North (81.5°N, 16W)”, as Dr Thomas Krumpen reported in an email sent from Greenland.
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New findings on the past and future of sea ice cover in the Arctic
Temperatures in the Arctic are currently climbing two to three times faster than the global average. The result – and, thanks to feedback effects, also the cause – is dwindling sea ice. In a study published in the actual volume of Nature Communications, geo- and climate researchers at the Alfred-Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI) show that, in the course of our planet’s history, summertime sea ice was to be found in the central Arctic in periods characterised by higher global temperatures – but less CO2 – than today.
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Potsdam Summer School Explores the Future of Cities
The rapid pace of change around the world is presenting humankind and human environments with tremendous challenges. What solutions and strategies can we employ to future-proof our cities in the age of climate change? Experts from 30 countries will meet to discuss these issues with leading sustainability researchers at the 2017 Potsdam Summer School on 4 – 13 September. Their findings will be presented to the public in a memorandum on 13 September.
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