• Historical development of the polar continents and oceans
• Dynamics of permafrost areas
• Reconstruction of climate veriability with ice cores
• Climate history based on marine and limnic sediments

Examples of the climate research competences include:

Antarctic Geological Drilling Project (ANDRILL)

Researchers of the Alfred Wegener Institute examine long and short-term alterations of the Antarctic glacial history in the framework of this international project. Due to its significant past sensitivity on changes in climate, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is of particular interest. The chief objective is to drill back in time to recover a history of paleoenvironmental changes. A target area is the Ross Sea.

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)

This international marine research program is run a unique drill vessel, that has the capacity to drill out marine sediment cores that represent a climate archive with high temporal and resolution. Within the scope of this program, the Alfred Wegener Institute studies the history of the climate and the oceans in the polar and subpolar regions and prepares drilling suggestions for future expeditions.

·        

Rapid Climate Change over the last interglacial period: The Ice Drilling Program NEEM

From 2007 until 2011, the international ice core research project aims at drilling through the ice sheet in North-West Greenland to retrieve ice from the previous interglacial, the Eemian, which ended about 115,000 years ago. At that time, the global temperature was 2°C higher than nowadays and the sea level was several meters higher. Ice core samples from the Eemian will contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of climate under conditions similar to those of a future warming climate