But this expedition won’t proceed entirely as planned, either – like so many things in the on-going coronavirus pandemic. In mid-December, the research ship Polarstern, with the new overwintering team
These include data on sea-ice formation and dynamics in the Antarctic pack-ice belt. When the Federal Republic of Germany became a signing member of the Antarctic Treaty in 1979 and established the Ge
Not until the end of the month did the sea-ice extent substantially decline, dropping below two standard deviations from the average for the period 1981 – 2010. At the same time, the summer solstice w
This was a few thousand km 2 below the previous record low from 1997. The mean sea-ice extent for February, at 2.4 million km², was another historical low (Figure 2). This minimum is the result of ver
The sea ice of the Arctic and Antarctic is a unique habitat for a host of organisms, which can be found on its surface, in the brine channels that permeate it, or on its underside, in the boundary lay
In contrast, the pack ice is now steadily growing in the Antarctic. This year, observations of the sea-ice extent development in both hemispheres reveal a trend clearly below the long-term average. Th
In the Arctic, the influence of the sunlight steadily increases until, on 21 June, the Polar Day begins north of the Arctic Circle and the sun never sets for several weeks on end. In the Antarctic, th
In addition to ice extent and thickness, ice age is an important parameter for the characterisation and formation of sea ice! After all, as sea ice ages, physical characteristics like thickness, salin
While the Arctic sea ice continues to decline, a glance at the Southern Ocean reveals a different picture: in recent years and decades, the sea-ice extent has increased slightly – albeit with clearly
As our colleagues at the German overwintering station Neumayer III can attest, that doesn’t necessarily mean the weather will get warmer, but at least towards the end of the month they can look forwar
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