Project Report
Experts discuss rapidly changing Arctic and Antarctic sea ice. Between June 4 and 9, 2023, almost 300 scientists from all around the world and from all career stages gathered in Bremerhaven, Germany, to discuss causes and consequences of the rapidly changing Arctic and Antarctic sea ice cover. This international sea ice symposium takes place every 4 to 5 years and was organized by the International Glaciological Society (IGS). As suggested by the theme of the symposium of “Sea Ice across Temporal and Spatial Scales” plenary keynote talks, thematic sessions, and presentations covered every physical and biological aspect of sea ice, from the microscale to the macroscale, and from diurnal to decadal changes. Of much interest are the long-term shrinkage of Arctic and the recent drops of Antarctic sea ice. These challenge our process and system understanding and our predictive capabilities and call for highly interdisciplinary research. Symposium participants learned about new observational advances and new modeling approaches, including field campaigns and satellite missions, and results from the IASC supported MOSAiC project. The symposium had an exciting social program with icebreaker reception, excursions, and a barbeque on the beach of the Weser river, providing great opportunities for meeting old and new friends and extending one’s network. The weather was brilliant the whole week. We are grateful for the sponsorship by the cryospheric, atmospheric, and marine working groups of IASC who provided substantial travel support for 18 Early Career Scientists (ECS). ECS also received awards for the best oral and poster presentations, and were celebrated during the symposium banquet.
More information can be found on the symposium web site at: https://igs2023.awi.de/
Date and Location
4 – 9 June 2023 in Bremerhaven, Germany
IASC Working Groups funding the project
- Atmosphere WG
- Cryosphere WG
- Marine WG
Project Lead
Christian Haas (Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Germany)
Year funded by IASC
2023