• Ocean eddies could explain Antarctic sea-ice paradox

    have now shown, the ocean may weaken warming around Antarctica and delay sea-ice retreat. Given that many models are not capable of accurately reflecting this factor and the role of ocean eddies, the study [...] Climate Research
    Despite global warming and the sea-ice loss in the Arctic, the Antarctic sea-ice extent has remained largely unchanged since 1979. However, existing climate model-based simulations

  • Arctic Species in Climate Change

    changed with them. When it comes to surviving in the Arctic, it’s a whole new ball game. Arctic sea ice at sunrise (Photo: Stefan Hendricks) The Arctic Ocean Unlike at the southern tip of the planet, in the [...] continent, only an ocean. These waters, also known as the Arctic Ocean, extend to the northern coasts of Scandinavia, Russia, North America and Greenland. They lie completely within the Arctic Circle and are [...] Pole, the Arctic magnetic pole and the Arctic geomagnetic pole. Measuring 4,000 kilometres long, 2,400 kilometres wide and covering an area of roughly 14 million square kilometres, the Arctic Ocean is the

  • Investigating unexplored ocean currents to the north of Greenland

    The scarcely explored region to the north of Greenland was the area of study in the last of three Arctic expeditions undertaken by the Polarstern since the end of May 2025. In the largely untraveled waters [...] oceanographer Torsten Kanzow of the Alfred Wegener Institute were able to collect unique data on ocean circulation in the area. A chain of six moorings was also deployed to conduct autonomous measurements

  • Arctic sea ice shrinks to second-lowest summer extent since the beginning of satellite observation

    Arctic Ocean
    This summer the sea-ice cover on the Arctic Ocean shrank to the second-smallest extent since the beginning of satellite observation in 1979. By mid-September it covered only 3.8 million [...] formed in Russia’s marginal seas, and soon melted again when the spring came. Secondly, this year the Arctic has seen extremely high air and water temperatures. Accordingly, heat gnawed away at the ice from

  • Deep insights into the Arctic of tomorrow

    frequency over a full annual cycle in the Central Arctic Ocean. They have now published three overview articles on the MOSAiC atmosphere, snow and sea ice, and ocean programs in the journal Elementa, highlighting [...] together. These results present the first complete picture of the climate processes in the central Arctic which is warming more than two times as fast as the rest of the planet - processes which affect weather

  • Arctic phytoplankton

    Underway spectrophotometry in the Fram Strait (European Arctic Ocean): a highly resolved chlorophyll a data source for complementing satellite ocean color. Optics Express Other references: 1. T.F. Stocker [...] “Amplified Arctic warming by phytoplankton under greenhouse warming,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 112 (19), 5921-5926 (2015). 3. K.R. Arrigo and G.L. van Dijken, “Continued increases in Arctic Ocean primary [...] atmospheric and oceanic DMS levels to particle nucleation events in the Canadian Arctic,” J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 116 (D17), D00S03 (2011). 7. P. Tunved, J. Ström, and R. Krejci, “Arctic aerosol life cycle:

  • Fisheries Agreement for the Central Arctic

    We know little about the fish stocks in the central Arctic Ocean, and what we know about the local ecosystem is insufficient to ensure sustainable management. In response, in June 2021 the Agreement to [...] to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean – which includes a moratorium on fishing in the region – entered into force. The European Union and nine other countries signed the

  • Polarstern Departs on Arctic Expedition

    the Arctic Ocean. The four-week expedition, slated to end on 19 July in Tromsø, Norway, will focus on extended ecological fieldwork at the AWI’s deep-sea observatory Hausgarten and at the FRAM Ocean Observing

  • More and stronger marine heatwaves in the Arctic – with severe consequences

    becoming more frequent and intense. The Arctic Ocean also suffers from this development: The absence of sea ice will lead to more extreme fluctuations in ocean temperatures, with abrupt temperature changes [...] Wegener Institute shows how marine heatwaves will also become much more intense and frequent in the Arctic in the 21st century. With drastic consequences for the ecosystem. The researchers published their

  • Annual sea ice minimum in the Arctic

    Arctic Ocean
    The sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean reached its annual minimum of 4.81 million square kilometres on 12 September 2021. As such, the 2021 Arctic sea-ice minimum comes in at 12th place