From research conducted at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)

The great meltdown - a challenge for the research community, society and political leaders

The summer ice cap over the Arctic Ocean has been shrinking for over thirty years. AWI researchers led by Professor Rüdiger Gerdes regularly measure the extent and thickness of sea ice and use the data to create models to better predict the role ice plays in the global climate system and to assess the chances and risks associated with the changes in northern regions.

Electromagnetic measurements of sea-ice thickness (EM) can be used to create profiles of sea ice over distances of several kilometres. Photo/Graphic: S. Hendricks.

Boat sea-ice thickness measurement — The precision of the EM method was evaluated by comparing EM measurements with drillings carried out at the same time. Photo/Graphic: S. Hendricks.

One thing is clear: the affect are not confined to the polar region alone. Changing atmospheric and oceanic circulations affect the climate worldwide, new sea routes that are open a larger part of the year play a key role in shipping, and arctic oil and gas are of great importance for industry. Furthermore, people in northern Canada, Alaska and Siberia will be forced to change their lifestyles in a process that will be difficult and perhaps even painful. This makes reliable predictions all the more important.

Cornelia Reichert

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