Earth Day graphic consisting of a series of images cropped diagonally that depict oceans, plants, ice, clouds, and more.  Some of the images are overlain with earth and recycling symbols

5 NSF projects transforming how researchers understand plastic waste (NSF)

April 22, 2024

The U.S. National Science Foundation champions research on how plastic impacts the planet. In this article, they highlight five projects that are changing how researchers think about plastic and what happens after it is tossed away. One of these projects is a study led by Alexandra Jahn about how sea ice moves microplastics in polar regions. Working with her are colleagues from NCAR, U Washington, and WHOI.

On a calm sunny day, a large polar bear jumps from one sea ice floe to another

The Arctic could become ‘ice-free’ within a decade (CU Boulder Today)

March 5, 2024

The Arctic could see summer days with practically no sea ice as early as the next couple of years, according to a new study led by Alexandra Jahn. The findings suggest that the first ice-free day in the Arctic could occur over 10 years earlier than previous projections.

Photo of sea ice floes

Smoke from Western wildfires can influence Arctic sea ice (Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine)

July 27, 2022

New CU Boulder research by Patricia DeRepentigny, Alexandra Jahn, and others finds that the presence of clouds—or lack thereof—caused by the smoke of wildfires thousands of miles away can either help protect or endanger Arctic sea ice.

Small chunks of melting ice float in a dark blue sea.

Increase in fresh water in Arctic Ocean could affect global climate systems (The Narwhal)

Aug. 28, 2020

A new study, led by Alexandra Jahn, shows increased precipitation and ice melt caused by climate change have left Arctic waters less salty. Repercussions will be felt much farther south.

Sea ice in the ocean in northern Baffin Bay, September 2008. Photo by Alex Jahn.

Increasing Arctic freshwater is driven by climate change (CU Boulder Today)

July 29, 2020

New, first-of-its-kind research from Rory Laiho and Alex Jahn shows that climate change is driving increasing amounts of freshwater in the Arctic Ocean, which will lead to increased freshwater moving into the North Atlantic Ocean, which could disrupt ocean currents and affect temperatures in northern Europe.