Archive of News and Press Releases
Stagnation in the South Pacific
A team led by geochemist Dr. Katharina Pahnke from Oldenburg has discovered important evidence that the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels at the end of the last ice age was triggered by changes in the Antarctic Ocean. The researchers from the University of Oldenburg's Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) were able to demonstrate that the deep South Pacific was strongly…
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From the Ronne Ice Shelf Polynya
During this week we completed a transect along the Ronne Ice Shelf front, extending from 50°W to 60°W. Every instrument on board has been used.
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Larsen C expedition
A team of scientists, led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), heads to Antarctica to investigate a mysterious marine ecosystem that’s been hidden beneath an Antarctic ice shelf for up to 120,000 years.
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AWI publishes magazine on climate research in the Arctic and Antarctic
Making climate research accessible – it was with this goal in mind that the Alfred Wegener Institute released the magazine “Tracking Changes”. In articles, interviews and infographics, readers will come to realise why pursuing climate research in the polar regions is so vital. Further, the engaging and highly informative read will make them ideally prepared for the next time they find themselves in a discussion about climate change.
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Moorings
This week’s work on PS111 was focused on moorings. Instruments, which have stayed in the water for up to 4 years, were retrieved and re-deployed.
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Neumayer and beyond
Now we have arrived – Polarstern makes her way easily through the disintegrating winter sea ice cover, heading for the northeastern edge of Ekström Ice Shelf.
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Influence of increasing carbon dioxide levels on the seabed
Storing carbon dioxide (CO2) deep below the seabed is one way to counteract the increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. But what happens if such storage sites begin to leak and CO2 escapes through the seafloor? Answers to this question have now been provided by a study dealing with the effects of CO2 emissions on the inhabitants of sandy seabed areas.
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Climate variability – past and future
On the basis of a unique global comparison of data from core samples extracted from the ocean floor and the polar ice sheets, AWI researchers have now demonstrated that, though climate changes have indeed decreased around the globe from glacial to interglacial periods, the difference is by no means as pronounced as previously assumed. Until now, it was believed that glacial periods were characterised by extreme temperature variability, while interglacial periods were relatively stable. The researchers publish their findings advanced online in the…
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Celebrating 60 years of Antarctic Science
Since its first meeting in The Hague on 3-5 February 1958, SCAR has grown an international network of thousands of scientists who share a common ambition to carry out Antarctic science for the benefit of society. The former AWI-director Prof. Dr. Karin Lochte is the committee’s Vice President for Capacity Building, Education and Training.
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Making the Arctic accessible for excellent science
Fourteen partners from thirteen countries including two North American partners from USA and Canada have joint forces to improve the capacities for marine-based research in the ice-covered Arctic Ocean. In the project “ARICE- Arctic Research Icebreaker Consortium”, they aim at better coordinating the existing polar research fleet, at offering scientists access to six research icebreakers and at collaborating closely with the maritime industry. The European Commission funds the project, which is coordinated by the German Alfred Wegener Institute,…
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