Arctic sea ice
Sea ice physicists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), are anticipating that the sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean this summer may [...] after evaluating current satellite data about the thickness of the ice cover. The data show that the arctic sea ice was already extraordinarily thin in the summer of 2015. Comparably little new ice formed

towards Spitsbergen, to use newly developed equipment in the Arctic Ocean. Autonomous instruments on the seabed, in the water column and in the air will complement the long-term measurements of the deep-sea research [...] RV Polarstern starts the Arctic season
Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) are setting out with the research vessel Polarstern towards [...] research group. In this way researchers can analyse the climatic changes in the Arctic and their impact on the fauna in the future with higher temporal and spatial resolution.

multidisciplinary investigations in the atmosphere, the water column and at the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean.
[...] the early evening on the 13th June 2016 we set sail for the long passage from Bremerhaven to the Arctic. We, that is 45 crew members and a total of 51 scientists, engineers, technicians and students with

m at Gakkel Ridge of the Central Arctic. Such integrated studies of ultraslow oceanic spreading zones are rare, because the most extensive of these systems, the Arctic Gakkel Ridge and the Southwest Indian

Arctic Ocean
This September, the Arctic sea ice extent has shrunk to 4.1 million square kilometres (sq km)-the second lowest in the history of satellite measurements. It is exceeded only by the all-time [...] all-time record low of 3.4 million sq km in 2012. "Once again, a massive loss of sea ice in the Arctic," says Prof. Lars Kaleschke from Universität Hamburg's Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability

these algae. This also means that the decline of the Arctic sea ice may have far-reaching consequences for the entire food web of the Arctic Ocean. Their results have been published online now in the journal [...] Food web
Algae that live in and under the sea ice play a much greater role for the Arctic food web than previously assumed. In a new study, biologists of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre

Arctic Ocean
More melt water is entering the Artic Ocean from the glaciers due to climbing temperatures. In addition, the rivers are carrying large amounts of sediment from thawing permafrost. How the [...] the Arctic Ocean will react to such changes is a very big question, which is concerning scientists around the world. Researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute have now published, together with int

observation of ice, ocean and seafloor processes in the Central Arctic. A main aim is to observe and analyse the changes in the sea ice cover, and its causes and consequences for ocean and life.

started in the marginal sea ice zone east of Svalbard, and then set course north into the central Arctic Ocean.The marginal sea ice zone was mostly covered with decaying sea ice and some larger ice-free areas

progress into the north significantly. During our journey in the thick ice across the deepening Arctic Ocean, wildlife became scarcer and scarcer. Patches of Melosira arctica were only spotted rarely.