Press Release Archive

11.12.2018

New climate report for the Baltic Sea region (BACC III) underway

The Second Assessment of Climate Change in the Baltic Sea Region (BACC II) of 2015 is currently being updated by scientists from the international Baltic Earth network. As for the previous two BACC reports (2008, 2015), Baltic Earth experts from various research fields such as meteorology, hydrology, oceanography, biology and biogeochemistry will compile the updated report. Furthermore, there will again be a close cooperation with HELCOM (Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission - Helsinki Commission).

15.11.2018

Turbulent Jubilee Expedition: FS ELISABETH MANN BORGESE starts 200th research cruise

On November 17, 2018, the research vessel ELISABETH MANN BORGESE will leave its home port Rostock Marienehe for its 200th cruise. The destination is the Gotland Basin in the central Baltic Sea. Here, the scientific team headed by the oceanographer Lars Umlauf from the IOW will be investigating small-scale turbulent mixing processes, which play an important role in the oceans’ energy budget. A better understanding of these processes by will ultimately contribute to the improvement of climate predictions.

22.10.2018

Enabling a plastic-free microplastic hunt: "Rocket" improves detection of very small particles

Environmental researchers at the IOW have developed a novel mobile device for recording microplastics in surface waters. They call it the “Rocket”, a design with which depending on the amount of suspended matter in the water up to 60 litres per minute can be sucked through four cartridge filters, and which is particularly advantageous for sampling the fine fraction of the microplastic in the range down to 10 µm. The scientists were specially challenged by the fact that plastic had to be avoided as far as possible.

28.09.2018

Summer School on the topic “Coastal Dynamics – Consequences for Coastal Protection and Ecology”

Today, the 17th Coastal Summer School came to an end. 19 young scientists from 11 nations visited the Baltic Sea island of Hiddensee for 12 days to deepen their knowledge of coastal research. On Hiddensee and on the research vessel ELISABETH MANN BORGESE they gained insights into geological processes of coastal dynamics, the resulting requirements for coastal protection and the ecological consequences of human interventions in natural dynamics. They were guided by 21 experts, who interdisciplinarily presented them with the latest findings on the main topic and discussed future challenges of coastal research with them.

19.09.2018

Is the Baltic Sea acidifying? IOW researcher adapt optical pH measurement method for brackish waters

Great advancement for pH-monitoring in the Baltic Sea: For a better observation of possible acidification trends in brackish waters, Jens Müller, marine chemist at the IOW, for the first time adapted a highly precise optical pH measurement technique for the use at low salinities, which until now was only applicable at high salinity levels of the open ocean. The newly adapted method, for which a market-ready device has already been designed, is therefore highly suitable for routine use within the framework of the Helsinki Commission's (HELCOM) Baltic Sea environmental monitoring.

11.09.2018

Europe's CO2 observers meet in Prague – with IOW among them.

The European ICOS research infrastructure network wants to generate more knowledge about the exchange of greenhouse gases in order to help prevent a future “hothouse Earth”. On September 11 – 14, ICOS scientists will meet in Prague to discuss their data. The marine chemist Gregor Rehder from Warnemünde is among them.

27.08.2018

Chinese-German expedition in the South China Sea investigates impact of megacities on coastal seas

On September 1, 2018, a ship-based research cruise starts from Guangzhou down the Pearl River to the coastal areas of the South China Sea. As part of the joint German-Chinese project MEGAPOL (short for "Megacity's fingerprint in Chinese marginal seas: Investigation of pollutant fingerprints and dispersal"), which is coordinated by the IOW, the 30-day cruise is investigating environmental impacts caused by conurbations with up to 100 million inhabitants on adjacent sea areas.

11.06.2018

2nd International Baltic Earth Conference in Denmark: “The Baltic Sea Region in Transition”

Today, Markus Meier, head of IOW's department of Physical Oceanography, opens the 2nd Baltic Earth Conference in Helsingør, Denmark. There, about 130 Earth system scientists from 14 countries and many different scientific disciplines meet to discuss past, current and future environmental transitions, which the Baltic Sea region will face.

18.05.2018

Into the heart of the blue-green algae bloom: IOW sailing expedition “BloomSail” is launched

On May 19, 2018, Jens Müller from the IOW starts his four-month sailing expedition BloomSail. The aim is a precise description of cyanobacteria mass development in the central Baltic Sea by means of CO2 measurements and other parameters, which play a decisive role in the formation and further course of these so-called blue-green algae blooms. The use of an 8-metre yacht for the first time allows the observation of acute bloom events in high temporal and spatial resolution during an entire blue-green algae peak season. The blooms are to be investigated not only – as is usually the case – in surface water but also in deeper water layers.

10.04.2018

Pioneer of ocean thermodynamics: IOW researcher Rainer Feistel receives Fridtjof Nansen Medal

On April 9, 2018, Rainer Feistel, physicist at IOW until 2014, received the Fridtjof Nansen Medal 2018 of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) at its general assembly in Vienna. The EGU, with about 12,500 members Europe's leading association for geoscientists, honoured Feistel's ground-breaking work in the field of ocean thermodynamics. Particularly by defining the thermodynamic properties of seawater by means of a Gibbs function he created for the first time stringent thermodynamic foundations in oceanography, from which other scientific disciplines such as climate research and engineering also benefited significantly.