How will the Arctic sea ice cover develop this summer? ­ Climate scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute present their own prognosis for the first time Bremerhaven, July 7, 2008. The ice cover in the Arctic Ocean at the end of summer 2008 will lie, with almost 100 per cent probability, below that of the year 2005 ­ the year with the second lowest sea ice extent ever measured. Chances of an equally low value as in the extreme conditions of the year 2007 lie around eight per cent. Climate scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association come to this conclusion in a recent model calculation. They participate with their prognosis in an international scientific contest, in which some of the most renowned institutes on ...

International Award for Information Technology Goes to Research Institutions in the German Federal State of Bremen for the Data Library PANGAEA® The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association (AWI) and the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM) received the 21st Century Achievement Award of the Computerworld Honors Program in the category Environment, which is one of the most prestigious awards in information technology. The award has been granted in response to PANGAEA¹s implementation and successful operation of a unique information system for archiving, publishing and processing of earth system data. Designed to support an integral view on earth, this information system was named after the supercontinent, combining all ...

An international team of researchers was able to provide evidence of explosive volcanism in the deeps of the ice-covered Arctic Ocean for the first time. Researchers from an expedition to the Gakkel Ridge, led by the American Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), report in the current issue of the journal Nature that they discovered, with a specially developed camera, extensive layers of volcanic ash on the seafloor, which indicates a gigantic volcanic eruption. ³Explosive volcanic eruptions on land are nothing unusual and pose a great threat for whole areas,² explains Dr Vera Schlindwein of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association. She participated in the expedition as a geophysicist and has been, together with her tea...

One of the key legacies of the International Polar Year 2007-2009 is the development of a cadre of early career researchers working together to tackle the pressing scientific problems of today and tomorrow. In order to further catalyze this formation, the US National Science Foundation funded the IPY New Generation Polar Research (NGPR) Symposium, which was held May 4-11, 2008, in Colorado Springs, USA. The symposium, which is also part of the “University of the Arctic: Providing Higher Education and Outreach Programs for the International Polar Year” (IPY Project #189), provided a venue where 35 early career polar scientists, currently working in 7 different countries, (a) learned from each other and from 12 veteran polar scientists, some of whom took part in the 1957...

Students on Ice is currently accepting applications for the 2008 International Polar Year Arctic Youth Expedition, taking place August 2nd-17th, 2008. The ship-based program joins students aged 14 to 19 from around the world with a team of 30 world-renowned scientists, environmentalists and polar educators. The experience serves as a powerful platform to create change, inspire, educate, give cause for hope, and raise awareness about the impacts of climate change and other environmental issues facing the Arctic region. Applications are being accepted until all spots are filled. ...

Press release: Bremerhaven, June 9th 2008. Research ice breaker Polarstern of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research of the Helmholtz Association puts out to the Arctic on June 12th after three weeks in the dockyards. The expedition of four months length is divided into three stages and leads via the Greenland Sea to Spitsbergen and up to the Fram Strait. The journey through the Northwest Passage up to the East Siberian Sea is planned as the third stage. Two days earlier, on June 10th, the research vessel Heincke leaves the island of Helgoland towards the Orkney Islands. Research is centred on marine biological investigations in the North Atlantic. The emphasis of research of the first part of Polarstern's journey are oceanographic read...

Student participants and educators of the 2007 Students on Ice Antarctic Expedition discuss the importance of the legacy of the International Polar Year.

Short clip explaining the International Polar Year and Students on Ice expeditions. Video includes interview footage from the Students on Ice Arctic expedition 2007.

Footage from the 2007 Students on Ice Antarctic Expedition. Students on Ice (SOI) is an award winning program dedicated to taking youth on educational expeditions to the Arctic and the Antarctic together with world-class teams of scientists and educators. As pioneers of experiential environmental education, the SOI experience has changed lives of students from all walks of life and backgrounds in what we like to call the greatest classroom on earth!

Students on Ice is currently accepting applications for the 2008 International Polar Year Arctic Youth Expedition, taking place August 2nd-17th, 2008. The ship-based program joins students aged 14 to 19 from around the world with a team of 30 world-renowned scientists, environmentalists and polar educators. The experience serves as a powerful platform to create change, inspire, educate, give cause for hope, and raise awareness about the impacts of climate change and other environmental issues facing the Arctic region. Applications are being accepted until all spots are filled. ...