The Alfred Wegener Institute carries out research in the Arctic and Antarctic as well as in the high and mid latitude oceans. The institute coordinates German polar research and makes available to national and international science important infrastructure, e.g. the research ice breaker “Polarstern” and research stations in the Arctic and Antarctic.
Latest Press Releases
1. September 2008: Marine scientists from the German federal state Bremen discover new giant clam - A hitherto unknown species shows signs of overfishing that already began 125.000 years ago
Researchers of the Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT), the University of Bremen and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association have, discovered a hitherto unknown giant clam. Tridacna costata lives in the coral reefs of the Red Sea and grows to a length of 40 centimetres. It also exists in fossilized form and its decline about 125.000 years ago is seen by the researchers as the first incidence of overfishing in the history of mankind.
22. August 2008: Even seaweeds get sunburned - Scientists of the Alfred Wegener Institute on Spitsbergen investigate the response of seaweeds to increased ultraviolet radiation
It is red, it burns and itches: a sunburn on our skin. However, too much sun is not only bad for humans. Many plants react very sensitive to an exposure to ultraviolet radiation, too. Yet they are dependent on sunlight. With the help of pigments absorbing solar energy and light, plants produce their cellular components by means of photosynthesis. However, this has its limits: too much sun means an over-abundance of energy and thus the destruction of the sensitive pigments. The results are black spots, pale leaves and rotten parts.
19. August 2008: RV Polarstern on its way to measurements in the East Siberian Sea - Research vessel transits the Northwest Passage for the first time ever
German research vessel Polarstern, operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association, transits the Northwest Passage for the first time. Polarstern left the port of Reykjavik on August 12th, sailed around Greenland on a southern course and is located right now at the beginning of the Northwest Passage. Its destination is the East Siberian Sea where geoscientific measurements at the junction between the Mendeleev Ridge and the East Siberian Shelf are at the focus of the participants of this expedition.
8. August 2008: Abrupt climate changes during the last Ice Age – a phenomenon of extreme winters?
Vast seasonal differences in climate history challenge modellers The severe climate oscillations in the North Atlantic area during the last glacial period were a phenomenon of extreme winters - the summers were only slightly affected. This is the result of the examinations of research teams from the Netherlands, the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association, Bremerhaven, and the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences, Kiel. It has now been published in the periodical “Nature Geoscience”.
To press release: Abrupt climate changes during the last Ice Age – a phenomenon of extreme winters?
