• Past Climate Change

    Leverhulme Grant Changes of water isotopes in Arctic Sea ice, Ocean, and atMosphere (CiASOM) (2021-2024) The main goal of the Changes of water isotopes in Arctic Sea ice, Ocean, and atMosphere (CiASOM) project [...] reduced sea ice coverage, Arctic-derived moisture serves as a new, increasingly important northern hemispheric water source. Contributions of the different Arctic hydrological compartments (i.e. sea water [...] water, sea ice, snow, water vapor) surrounding RV Polarstern will be targeted to decipher major exchange processes between atmosphere, ocean, and sea ice. Contact: Moein Mellat, Hanno Meyer , Martin Werner

  • The Wadden Sea Ecosystem

    The Wadden Sea Ecosystem The coastal area of the south-eastern North Sea, including the Wadden Sea, is a highly productive system with diverse interactions between the organisms living here. In this coastal [...] of the Wadden Sea are being investigated using modern DNA technology, from the genetic level to microbial, plankton and benthic communities. In addition, the commercially used North Sea shrimp and the [...] question is how climate change and increasing human use influence the structure and functions of our North Sea coast and to what extent the organisms can adapt to the changes. There are also often factors that

  • Citizen scientists help discover microplastics along the entire German coastline

    become ubiquitous in our environment. Plastics of various sizes are also found along the German North Sea and Baltic coasts. Previous studies of microplastic pollution on German beaches have often been

  • Open Day 2024

    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 [...] Open House Day 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 [...] in the long term? On the occasion of its 100-year anniversary, the AWI Wadden Sea Station Sylt will host an Open House Day on 7 September 2024. Open House Day on Saturday, 07.09.2024 From 14:00 to 19:00

  • „Wir können Watt - coastal research in time with the tides”

    on their doorstep and exploring the question of how climate change is altering the Wadden Sea and the North Sea in the long term.

  • Change of staff in coastal research: AWI Vice Director Prof Karen Wiltshire to helm new climate institute at Trinity College Dublin

    2001, Prof Karen Wiltshire began investigating changes in the ecosystems of the North Sea, particularly in the Wadden Sea, in connection with anthropogenic and natural influences – like climate change – [...] Director of the AWI’s Biological Institute Helgoland. After working more than two decades in the High North, she assumed a new position at Trinity College Dublin and will found a new climate institute in the

  • WG Long-term Ecology

    serve to record ongoing changes in ecosystems. Long-term ecological observations of the North Sea and the Wadden Sea have been collected and analysed at the marine stations on Helgoland and Sylt of the Alfred [...] most important tools for understanding long-term responses and interactions of the North Sea and the adjacent Wadden Sea to anthropogenic and natural changes, not only for employees of the Coastal Ecology [...] climate change. For example, the long-term data of the marine stations has shown that the North Sea and the Wadden Sea have become significantly warmer than the mean global temperature increase over recent

  • Riddle of Varying Warm Water Inflow in the Arctic Now Solved

    Research finally have an explanation for why: Due to unusual atmospheric pressure conditions over the North Atlantic, low-pressure areas are diverted from their usual track, which disrupts the coupling between [...] an important step toward refining climate models and more accurately predicting the fate of Arctic sea ice in the face of progressing climate change.

  • The Wadden Sea Over the Course of Time

    Wadden Sea Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) It is getting warmer, sea levels are rising and the Wadden Sea ecosystems are changing rapidly (Figure 1). At the Wadden Sea station of Sylt we have one [...] other parts of the North Sea. We also envisage extending this observational power by remote sensing or other optical methods that will allow a higher spatial coverage of the North Sea. We strive to sample [...] other parts of the North Sea. We also envisage extending this observational power by remote sensing or other optical methods that will allow a higher spatial coverage of the North Sea. We aim to integrate

  • Water Meets Land – Coastal Hydrography and Geology

    surveying of geomorphology, sediment distribution and habitat properties in the Wadden Sea and in the coastal North Sea. To make area-based statements about the sediment properties of the seabed, we employ [...] Water Meets Land – Coastal Hydrography and Geology The Wadden Sea forms a transitional habitat between land and sea. High tidal amplitudes, shallow water depths, strong winds, and rivers discharge create [...] beneath the seabed and give us the opportunity to study the historical development of the very young North Sea on geological time scales. These methods help to visualize and analyze glacial surfaces and ancient