Press release

The Arctic experiences some of the most rapid climate changes on the planet, resulting in significant sea-ice melt. This transformation exposed the Arctic Ocean to increasing sunlight, driving a 56% rise [...] nutrients and carbon into the Arctic Ocean, delivered from rivers and coastal erosion. While it might seem logical that these additional nutrients would enhance the ocean’s biological carbon pump, - boosting [...] ecosystem impoverishment are undermining the pump’s efficiency, challenging assumptions about the Arctic’s ability to store carbon in a warming world.

in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. The results from Stockholm University, the Alfred Wegener Institute and colleagues in the European Fisheries Inventory in the Central Arctic Ocean (EFICA) Consortium are

melting more and more frozen ground in the Arctic. This dissolved matter contains large amounts of organic carbon which is flowing into the central Arctic ocean. In a new study, scientists led by Alfred [...] matter accumulates in the central Arctic Ocean. Using chemical fingerprints, they were able to assess how fast it degrades, thus releasing additional CO2 to the ocean. These findings are an important basis [...] basis to project how inputs from land affect Arctic marine ecosystems and the ability of the ocean to store CO2 in a warming climate. The results are published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

entire Arctic Ocean during the coldest phases of the Ice Ages. A new study, now published in Science Advances , questions this idea. The research team found no evidence of such a permanent, pan-Arctic ice [...] ice shelf. Instead, the Arctic Ocean appears to have been covered by seasonal sea ice, allowing open water—and life—to persist even during the harshest glacial periods of the past 750,000 years. This discovery [...] discovery sheds new light on how the Arctic has responded to climate extremes in the past—and how it may evolve in the future.

the scientists could demonstrate that the Arctic Ocean as well as the Nordic Seas did not contain sea-salt in at least two glacial periods. Instead, these oceans were filled with large amounts of freshwater [...] Geosciences
The Arctic Ocean was covered by up to 900 m thick shelf ice and was filled entirely with freshwater at least twice in the last 150,000 years. This surprising finding, reported in the latest

Arctic Ocean
The influx of warmer water masses from the North Atlantic into the European marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean plays a significant role in the marked decrease in sea-ice growth, especially [...] evident a year later, when the ice has drifted towards Greenland via the North Pole and leaves the Arctic through Fram Strait. This study also includes data from the MOSAiC expedition.

research group, which will use cutting-edge technologies to create a jellyfish inventory for the Arctic Ocean. The group will receive financial support from the Helmholtz Association and the Alfred Wegener

A major new project will help benchmark biodiversity change in the Arctic Ocean and guide conservation efforts by identifying unique species and assessing their extinction risk. The research led by scientists

Ocean Eddies
In a new study, researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) investigated the long-term changes in the Arctic Ocean eddy activity [...] study reveals a remarkable surge in Arctic eddy activity in a warmer climate, a trend that is probably unparalleled when compared to other regions across the global ocean.