The MOSAiC expedition, which had reached the North Pole in mid-August, found a patchwork of ice-floes and open water surfaces instead of a closed ice cover. The “Polarstern” was able to pass through the northernmost point of the planet almost unhindered....
Numerous invertebrates such as mussels, sea urchins, snake stars and sponges live under the ice of the coastal areas of Antarctica despite cold and ice. But in some places, conditions for these critters had been worse than usual until 2014. Photo: Steve Clabuesch,...