Polar ocean–cryosphere dynamics across past, present, and future climate states: AWI research highlights 2021–2025

The polar regions play a central role in the Earth system through their influence on ocean circulation, ice sheets, sea level, carbon cycling, and climate variability. Rapid anthropogenic warming is transforming these regions, highlighting the need to understand the processes, feedbacks, and thresholds that govern ocean–cryosphere interactions across a wide range of timescales. Here we synthesize major scientific advances achieved at the Alfred Wegener Institute during 2021–2025 within the Helmholtz research program Changing Earth – Sustaining Our Future. Combining paleoclimate archives, sustained observations, process studies, and Earth-system modeling, these studies provide new insights into the sensitivity of the climate system under past, present, and future climate conditions. Key findings include new constraints on Antarctic Ice Sheet evolution during past greenhouse climates, improved understanding of links between Southern Ocean circulation and climate–carbon feedbacks, advances in reconstructing Northern Hemisphere ice-sheet dynamics and deglaciation processes, and evidence that regional climate variability is stronger and more persistent than represented in many current climate models. Observations and simulations further reveal accelerating changes in Greenland outlet glaciers, important couplings between cryospheric change and the carbon cycle, and a growing role of mesoscale ocean dynamics in shaping future Arctic and global climate change. Together, these results demonstrate the value of integrating observations, paleoclimate evidence, and high-resolution modeling to constrain Earth-system sensitivity, identify critical feedbacks, and improve projections of future climate change in a warming world.

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Publication Details

Journal
Polarforschung
Published
2026-11-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/polf-94-69-2026
Primary Topic
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
Type
article
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Polar ocean–cryosphere dynamics across past, present, and future climate states: AWI research highlights 2021–2025

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Polar ocean–cryosphere dynamics across past, present, and future climate states: AWI research highlights 2021–2025

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article en

Abstract

The polar regions play a central role in the Earth system through their influence on ocean circulation, ice sheets, sea level, carbon cycling, and climate variability. Rapid anthropogenic warming is transforming these regions, highlighting the need to understand the processes, feedbacks, and thresholds that govern ocean–cryosphere interactions across a wide range of timescales. Here we synthesize major scientific advances achieved at the Alfred Wegener Institute during 2021–2025 within the Helmholtz research program Changing Earth – Sustaining Our Future. Combining paleoclimate archives, sustained observations, process studies, and Earth-system modeling, these studies provide new insights into the sensitivity of the climate system under past, present, and future climate conditions. Key findings include new constraints on Antarctic Ice Sheet evolution during past greenhouse climates, improved understanding of links between Southern Ocean circulation and climate–carbon feedbacks, advances in reconstructing Northern Hemisphere ice-sheet dynamics and deglaciation processes, and evidence that regional climate variability is stronger and more persistent than represented in many current climate models. Observations and simulations further reveal accelerating changes in Greenland outlet glaciers, important couplings between cryospheric change and the carbon cycle, and a growing role of mesoscale ocean dynamics in shaping future Arctic and global climate change. Together, these results demonstrate the value of integrating observations, paleoclimate evidence, and high-resolution modeling to constrain Earth-system sensitivity, identify critical feedbacks, and improve projections of future climate change in a warming world.

PolarforschungVol. 94(0)
Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (DE), University of Bremen (DE)
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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