the past few decades – due to the reduced 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 [...] in the Arctic is insulated by water and sea ice, one might assume there was no permafrost there. But guess again: at the bottom of certain shallow coastal seas, the ground is permanently frozen. This type [...] there was so much water frozen in the massive inland ice sheets of Scandinavia and North America that in some places, the sea level was 120 metres lower than today. Where now we see ocean waves, there was

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 of plastic debris that have accumulated over the past few decades. Tiny [...] traps: marine debris (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut) The debris is everywhere The debris found in our seas is a diverse mix composed of various materials, but the scientific findings paint a clear picture: [...] majority originates from shipping and fishing. However, litter is not just dumped directly into the sea; large amounts are carried there by rivers. This plastic debris is mostly packaging. Initially, packaging

Gloabal Change than other oceans. Sea ice strongly decraeses, temperatures rise at least twice as much, acidification and, the influence of warmer water from the North Atlantic is increasing ('Altantification') [...] relatively high proportion of biomass was being observed, the proportion of biomass in central Arctic, sea ice covered waters is relatively low. Team work P lankton E cology and B iogeochemistry in a C hanging

biotopes in Germany’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the North Sea. Contact partner: Dr Jan Beermann Long-term monitoring of macroalgae and seagrass in the Wadden Sea Seagrass meadows are highly productive coastal [...] Research projects Distribution of benthic communities in the North Sea The EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) obligates member states to monitor the status and development of biotic communities [...] long-term development of seagrass stocks. While the seagrass meadows in the north of the Schleswig-Holstein area of the Wadden Sea have grown considerably since 1994, unfortunately no such recovery can be

s of Survey Areas BS - Beaufort Sea BaS - Barents Sea CAO - Central Arctic Ocean CS - Chukchi Sea FS - Fram Strait GS - Greenland Sea LaS - Laptev Sea LiS - Lincoln Sea IceBird Impressions IceBird-Impressions [...] information of the sea ice surface topography. This information is used to estimate the roughness of the sea ice surface as well as freeboard, a crucial parameter for remote sensing of sea ice thickness. Snow [...] preparing for a survey flight over sea ice (image: S. Hendricks, AWI) Objectives The AWI IceBird program is a series of airborne surveys to collect measurements of sea ice thickness in the Arctic conducted

The AWI North Sea Office The AWI North Sea Office provides scientific content for the political community, environmental organisations and the general public. The North Sea is a unique habitat and significant [...] The North Sea is one of the most heavily used seas in the world. Shipping, fishing and other anthropogenic activities have substantial effects on natural ecosystems, while also influencing the North Sea’s [...] offices. For the past several years, the AWI has been monitoring and investigating changes in the North Sea at its facilities in Bremerhaven, Helgoland and Sylt. Offering extensive expertise gained through

station ‘Samoylov Island’ is located in the Lena Delta in north-east Siberia (Russian Arctic). The delta stretches over 150 kilometers into the Laptev Sea and is one of Russia's largest nature reserves. This

hydrography of the North Atlantic, in particular by analyzing the impact of oceanic resolution in key regions, such as the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Current regions, the Labrador Sea, and the Denmark [...] Goessling | Özgür Gürses | Thomas Rackow | Dmitry Sidorenko SPP 1889 Regional Sea Level Change and Society Understanding regional sea level change and its impacts on societies requires new forms of integrated [...] research between natural and social sciences. The Priority Program (SPP-1889) "Regional Sea Level Change and Society (SeaLevel)" , funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,

can be carried out in this project Useless bycatch or a valuable raw material? Starfish from the North Sea (Photo: Picasa) Lead: Enno Fricke Contact: Mail to Enno (0)471 4831 2731 Duration: 1.10.24 bis 30

demonstrate for the first time. This allows the flow of the ice streams and the associated change in sea level to be estimated more precisely. The quakes are responsible for the fact that ice streams also [...] viscous honey as previously considered. The underlying seismic data from inside the NEGIS ice stream in north-east Greenland was recorded by researchers in a 2,665-metre-deep borehole using a fibre-optic cable