• Air: Meteorology

    shoreline of Kongsfjord at the west coast of Spitsbergen, where ocean currents carry warm water from the North Atlantic Ocean. That means, the ocean warms the climate in Spitsbergen, which is why in summer the [...] Spitzbergen has risen by 1.3 °C. A warming of the Arctic, which becomes apparent especially in winter. The main climate influence in Ny-Ålesund is the Arctic Ozean. The scientific village is located right [...] -Institut are collecting these weather data with the help of meteorological observatories in the Arctic and Antarctic. Their data is coded after each measurement and transmitted to other research stations

  • Seafloor spreading

    speed of several millimetres to centimetres per year (plate tectonics). So-called mid-oceanic ridges run through the oceans. In these zones magma rises from the Earth’s interior to the surface, cools down there [...] magma again. A region in which new seafloor continuously forms is, for instance, Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic. This is a submarine mountain range whose northern foothills extend from the northeast tip of Greenland

  • Publications

    Danilov, N. Koldunov, C.Liu, V. Mueller, D. Sidorenko and T. Jung, 2024: Eddy activity in the Arctic Ocean projected to surge in a warming world . Nature Climate Change , 14 , 156–162, doi.org/10.1038 [...] 387 , 68–73, doi.org/10.1126/science.adq7280 . Wang, Q., S. Danilov, and T. Jung, 2024: Arctic freshwater anomaly transiting to the North Atlantic delayed within a buffer zone. Nature Geosci [...] Beech, N., T. Rackow, T. Semmler, S. Danilov, Q. Wang and T. Jung, 2022: Long-term evolution of ocean eddy activity in a warming world. Nature Climate Change , 9 , 910–917, doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01478-3

  • Permafrost

    sea-ice cover on the Arctic Ocean in summer, to higher water and air temperatures, and to rising sea levels. Less sea ice means e.g. that winds produce larger waves, which batter Arctic coasts. On average [...] further thawing be prevented? To FAQ element Can permafrost only be found on land? Since the ocean floor in the Arctic is insulated by water and sea ice, one might assume there was no permafrost there. But guess [...] latitudes of the Arctic and Antarctic, a minor rise is enough to set off thawing. To FAQ element Why are permafrost coasts increasingly collapsing? Coastal erosion has worsened in the Arctic over the past

  • Research program

    support the development of strategies for adaptation and mitigation. Topic 2: Oceans and Cryosphere in Climate How do oceans and the cryosphere drive climate change, and how can we better predict future [...] profound changes, with significant impacts on humanity. Central to these changes are the polar regions, oceans, and coastal and shelf seas, which play crucial roles in regulating the Earth's climate and supporting [...] ty and have a critical influence on both regional and global climate by affecting sea-ice cover, ocean circulation, atmospheric conditions and finally coastal areas. The Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI)

  • Climate Sciences

    systems across the Arctic and Antarctic, using research vessels, such as the icebreaker Polarstern , observatories, aircrafts, and satellites to capture the evolving dynamics of the ocean, atmosphere, sea [...] climate is shaped by intricate physical and biogeochemical processes in the atmosphere, cryosphere, and ocean. Understanding these processes – especially in the rapidly changing polar regions where the changes

  • Marine plastic debris

    Currents transport plastic debris through the ocean, allowing it to accumulate even in remote areas like the Arctic. Unlike beach debris, the plastics in the ocean cannot be readily removed – and breaks down [...] intense research have shown that garbage can be found throughout the world’s oceans. Even in the most remote parts of the ocean, like the polar regions or the bottom of the deep sea, we can find large amounts [...] element Where does plastic debris end up? A great deal of the debris in and on the ocean ends up on beaches or the ocean floor. Especially deep-sea trenches have essentially become deposition sites for large

  • Expeditions

    feedbacks between ocean structure and dynamics, sea ice physics, biogeochemistry, and biodiversity of the Arctic Ocean. Organic compounds in the Arctic Ocean and the deep Atlantic Ocean are derived from [...] elucidate, if the amount of dissolved organic compounds in the Arctic Ocean changed over the last decades. We also aim at quantifying the contribution of terrestrial organic matter because it represents [...] the effect of global warming on the occurrence of toxic microalgae and phycotoxins in the Arctic. The Arctic region is heavily impacted by global warming, which has an influence on the growth of planktonic

  • Ecological Chemistry

    on, aggregation, ecological function and distribution of organic compounds in the changing polar ocean. We aim to understand the function of marine organic compounds, both, as diagnostic markers to decode [...] 2026 In the “FjordChange” project, we are investigating the influence of Atlanticification on the Arctic ecosystem around Spitsbergen. To this end, we are studying four fjords with varying degrees of A [...] of marine life Subtopic 6.3 The future biological carbon pump Subtopic 6.4 Use and misuse of the ocean: Consequences for marine ecosystems Publications of the Section Biological carbon pump Influence of

  • Climate modelling

    reflect in detail processes in the ocean, which have a major influence on the climate. In response, the AWI has developed a special ocean model (FESOM), which simulates e.g. ocean currents and sea ice. For their [...] All around the world, there are natural climate archives – the sediments on the ocean floor, ancient ice in the Arctic and Antarctic, wood for tree-ring analyses, and more. These archives contain what [...] computer programmes used to simulate reality: the motion of air masses, radiation from the sun, and ocean currents – they’re all climate-relevant processes that, with the aid of mathematical formulas, can