German Research Minister, Dorothee Bär, visited the research icebreaker Polarstern upon its return from Antarctica. She boarded the ship in Amsterdam, where she was welcomed by Captain Felix Kentges, Expedition Leader Björn Fiedler, and AWI Director Hajo Eicken. Photos: Barbara Dombrowski

📈This important paper, which was largely overlooked, stresses the need for long-term ocean observation showing that #Atlantic water temperatures increased by 0.54°C from 1997-2024 (0.20°C per decade) at HAUSGARTEN observatory, Fram Strait. @awi.de #ClimateChange www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

In Tromsø, Research Minister Dorothee Bär @dorobaer.bsky.social Bär and AWI Director Hajo Eicken met with representatives of the Norwegian Polar Institute. “Germany and Norway are connected by many years of close and trusted cooperation in polar research,” said AWI Director Hajo Eicken. 📸 NPI

New study by AWI scientist Ole Zeising @olezsng.bsky.social: The bed beneath the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is characterized by a complex subglacial environment with hard, steep basal slopes and extensive water-bearing sediments.

(1/5) Excited to share our latest research on #ThwaitesGlacier, now published in @commsearth.nature.com. 🎉 We’ve imaged the bed beneath Thwaites, revealing a complex landscape of hard bedrock ridges and deep, water-saturated wetlands. 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Apply for a visiting research stay (> 15 working days) at the AWIs marine stations on Heligoland or Sylt and take advantage of the institutes’ close proximity to the rocky intertidal zone and mudflats. The application deadline is July 31, 2026: 👉https://accessinfra.awi.de/#/

New Storms ⛈️ , Eddies 🌀 and #ScienceHour 🌐 webinar coming up! What if recent extreme weather events could be replayed in different climates? Join @thomasjung.bsky.social (@awi.de) on Monday April 20 at 2pm CEST and find out! More info here: eerie-project.eu/event/storms...

AWI researchers discover a new island during a Polarstern expedition in Antarctica. 🏝️ The team was surprised by the sudden appearance of an island that had previously only been marked as a danger zone on the available nautical charts. The island is about 130 metres long. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...

As EERIE begins its transition from delivery to legacy, we've asked several project scientists to share their views. ▶️ Watch EERIE Project Coordinator @thomasjung.bsky.social (@awi.de) explain achievements, expected impact and challenges left: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phd5... #MeetThePeople

New AWI study shows that the combination of heat and drought events will further increase and affect especially those countries that contribute less to climate change. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...

Last week, 66 international researchers gathered in Potsdam for the Arctic System Science Conference. The conference covered the latest insights into polar research, including the findings of the MOSAiC expedition as well as future initiatives such as the TARA Polar station. @iasc-arctic.bsky.social

Since February, the GTNP-P has been an official part of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). This is operated by the WMO, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Council for Science. 📸 A. Bombelli

Construction of the new Polarstern is gathering pace: A 5.66-metre-long model has successfully demonstrated the capabilities of the future research icebreaker in the HSVA ice channel. 🧊🚢 Construction of the ship is scheduled to begin in spring 2027. www.awi.de/ueber-uns/se... 📹AWI/Ocean Architects

Ready to go! #COMPEX RF06 heading for #NyAlesund and #EArthCARE. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard @unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

#Polar5 has been out today to the North of Svalbard in the origin region of a cold air outbreak. People aboard could investigate beautiful cloud streets starting in the marginal ice zone. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard @unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

Any ocean (biogeochemical) modeller wants to be part of this fun crowd for a while? We're hiring a 🧪 PostDoc at @awi.de to assess carbon pathways into the interior 🌊 ocean and timescales of carbon sequestration with Lagrangian tools. jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/21... #hiring #scijobs #oceanpeak

Welcome back to Bremerhaven, Hajo! 👏👏👏 Glaciologist Hajo Eicken is taking over as AWI Director today, returning after nearly three decades at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, where he most recently led the nternational Arctic Research Center. Photos: Kerstin Rolfes

#PhD - Metabolic Rhythms and Mitochondrial Adaptation in Mussels with @awi.de Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) Where: Bremerhaven, Germany Deadline: March 22 2026 Discover more 👇 champ.ly/O76u9398

It's day 4 of #COMPEX and we already had two successful flights: one to Northwest with clouds over ice and one to Southeast sampling the contrast between clouds over the ocean and ice. 🧪 #remotesensing #AC3 #Svalbard @unicologne.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @awi.de @esa.int

Another paper in the 25 years of @awi.de #HAUSSGARTEN #Observatory series is published.It's on the open access long term storage archives, which are the repositories for much of the monitoring & experimental data & describes novel ways these can now be accessed. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🛫 Research flights in the Arctic As part of the international COMPEX research campaign, scientists from #UniCologne, #UniLeipzig, and @awi.de are investigating how clouds and sea ice interact—and what role these interactions play in the rapid warming of the Arctic. ▶️ uni.koeln/QM7Q8

🥁Happy to announce the publication of "Multibeam seabed bathymetry of the Long-Term Ecological Research observatory HAUSGARTEN (Fram Strait)", another paper in our "25 years of HAUSGARTEN time series synthesis" series. @awi.de #Arctic #DeepSea www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🪸Our new paper led by Lily Böhringer is out: Benthic megafauna from @awi.de #HAUSGARTEN Observatory in the #Arctic #DeepSea went through significant changes. From 2002-2021, selected taxa populations declined ranging from 28% for crinoids to 93% for soft corals. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The wintering team at Neumayer Station III is now taking you along on their daily adventures in Antarctica! Regular posts are available in the new On Expedition app. 🐧❄️ onexpedition.awi.de?lang=en

#RECCAP2 paper alert, Jemma Wadham led the polar chapter, summarizing knowns and (large) unknowns of carbon stocks and fluxes from ice sheets to land fringes, fjords, 🌊 oceans and sediments.🧪 Excellent reference starting point for future work. agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/... @awi.de

How do clouds form in Antarctica? ☁️ AWI researchers have conducted flight-based aerosol measurements in Antarctica for the first time in around 20 years. The aim of the campaign was to investigate the processes of cloud formation in Antarctica. 📸 P.Joppe @mpic.de @tropos-de.bsky.social

🧊 Good morning from #Bremerhaven, where ice is forming in the marina in front of @awi.de!

Stay tuned for our surprise! 🎁❄️

Why rivers in the far north are turning orange? AWI scientist Guido [email protected] explains the answers in an interview with the @financialtimes.com. www.ft.com/content/2ffa...

An international Antarctic research drilling project in which the AWI is also involved, has achieved a major success: The team succeeded in drilling the longest sediment core to date under a section of the Ross Ice Shelf in West Antarctica. www.awi.de/en/about-us/... @uni-kiel.de 📸 ATovey SWAIS2C

🦠 Wow, another publication in our 25 years #HAUSGARTEN Observatory series, focussing on "Microbial and chemical signatures of melting sea-ice: export of bacteria, microeukaryotes, and molecules" in the #Arctic. @awi.de @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Today, on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we celebrate women in polar research! 🐧🧊 Our AWI photographer Esther Horvath documents in her work life and research in the Arctic and Antarctic. In her TEDx Talk, she offers shines a light on the women scientists. youtu.be/VyoJ0R4tLoU

Phew, what a day: a keynote presentation, policy panel discussion & 💉 blood sampling for @wecfgermany.bsky.social’s PFAS campaign! Thanks a lot, @exitplastik.bsky.social for inviting me to Berlin & organising this great workshop with many interesting & insightful discussions & trainings! 🙏 @awi.de

Prof. Dr Hajo Eicken is the new director of the Alfred Wegener Institute! Born in Bremerhaven, the glaciologist will relocate from Alaska to take up his position as scientific director on 20 March. 🎉⚓ www.awi.de/en/about-us/... @helmholtz.de 📸: University of Alaska Fairbanks

Polarstern will be departing Punta Arenas for the Weddell Sea🚢 Until April, an AWI-led team will study sea ice, ice shelves, and ocean interactions in this key climate region, where summer sea ice has declined since 2017, presumably as a result of warmer surface water. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...

Rossella Alba, our new colleague at @hifmb.de leading the Marine Policy and Management working group, offers two fully funded PhD positions here: jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/21... apply until March 18, and feel free to make potential applicants aware. 🧪 @icbm-uol.bsky.social

AWI researchers have found evidence suggesting that humans may have influenced fire activity in eastern Siberia more than 5,000 years ago — earlier than previously assumed. 🔥 By analyzing charcoal particles from sediment cores, they were able to reconstruct a 10,000-year history of wildfires.

📣 In our new @nature.com Comment, we encourage the person elected as the new chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee on 7 February to implement significant changes to the negotiation workflow in order to achieve a global #PlasticsTreaty. Let's get this done! 1/n #Plastics rdcu.be/e14PA

A new study by the AWI, the University of Oldenburg and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory shows that changes in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could influence algae growth, which could affect the ability of the Southern Ocean to store CO₂. www.awi.de/en/about-us/...

Final reminder for the Arctic System Science Conference 2026: Abstracts are due January 31 at 11:59 p.m.UTC. Registration closes mid-February. The conference will take place from March 23-27 in Potsdam, Germany. Join the international Arctic science community! polarsystemscience.org/arcticsystem...

Glacier ice supplies the ocean with key nutrients. In experiments, researchers at the AWI have shown for the first time that Antarctic phytoplankton can use iron from glacier meltwater, but not iron released from groundwater. 👉 www.awi.de/en/about-us/... Photo: Berenice Ebner

🐧‘To make the #WeddellSea a protected marine area, we need to demonstrate that what the area has to offer is of great value to humans.’ Jacqueline Stefels (@rug.nl) boarded the #Polarstern of @awi.de for an expedition to Antarctica.❄️ Curious? Read more 👇 🔗 www.rug.nl/fse/news/cli... 🧪 #SciComm

🎺 New study based on @awi.de HAUSGARTEN Observatory in the #Arctic #DeepSea is out: Time series of dissolved organic carbon in the Fram Strait (2010–2021): Indications for increased river export of DOC to the East Greenland Current? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

AWI researchers have reorganized the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P) database and made it publicly accessible. Since the 1990s, the GTN-P has collected high-quality data to monitor global permafrost changes and its role in the climate system. www.gtn-p.org

The fabulous Kimberley Peters @hifmb.de provides some great perspective on the BBNJ Agreement put into force today. hifmb.de/wp-content/u... 🧪🌍 @awi.de @icbm-uol.bsky.social

In 2025, the AWI and University of Bremen secured extensive data sets from the USA. Now, the @dfg.de has approved around €860,000 in funding to systematically identify endangered data and secure it for the long term with the help of the PANGAEA data platform. ☁️📊 www.awi.de/en/about-us/...

NPI scientists currently conduct ecosystem research on the @biodiversa.eu WOBEC cruise with @awi.de R/V Polarstern in the Southern Ocean, including work on sea ice. Read more here: instagram.com/p/DTkpb4IiLvn Photos: S. Moreau, Norwegian Polar Institute.

🌊 New ocean alkalinity enhancement paper out, led by @tanvi05.bsky.social: We conducted global and regional (subduction regions) alkalinity enhancement simulations in the emission-driven AWI-ESM. Key findings are ... shorturl.at/9Cz5r @miriamseif.bsky.social @awi.de @cdrmare.bsky.social 1/x

Join the Arctic System Science Conference 2026 in Potsdam from March 23 to 27.🧊 Abstract submissions are open until January 31. Registration opens today and travel funding is available. For more Information, visit: polarsystemscience.org/arcticsystem...

Happy new year to Antarctica @alexandrazuhr.bsky.social from @unituebingen.bsky.social! Work near Kohnen station is progressing well. All 979 (!) stake readings for surface mass balance are done and up next are flights with @awi.de’s UWBm radar. Has snowfall increased in the last decade?