All Stories by Douglas Fox
- Climate
An unexpected ice collapse hints at worrying changes on the Antarctic coast
The Conger Ice Shelf disintegrated in 2022. Satellite data leading up to the collapse hint at worrying changes in a supposedly stable ice sheet.
- Oceans
A transatlantic flight may turn Saharan dust into a key ocean nutrient
Over time, atmospheric chemical reactions can make iron in dust from the Sahara easier for organisms to take in, helping to create biodiversity hot spots.
- Climate
Warm water is sneaking underneath the Thwaites Glacier — and rapidly melting it
The salty water, just 3.6 degrees Celsius above the ice’s melting point, is undermining the foundation of the Antarctic glacier.
- Earth
A hidden danger lurks beneath Yellowstone
A volcanic eruption at Yellowstone is unlikely anytime soon, but evidence is growing that a violent hydrothermal, or steam, explosion is possible.
- Climate
A rapid shift in ocean currents could imperil the world’s largest ice shelf
Roughly the size of Spain, the Ross Ice Shelf stabilizes major glaciers along Antarctica’s coast — and is at risk of retreating, a new study finds.
- Climate
3 Antarctic glaciers show rapidly accelerated ice loss from ocean warming
Destabilized by ocean waves and vanishing sea ice, Antarctica’s Hektoria glacier lost 25 kilometers of ice in 16 months — a possible hint of what’s to come.
- Earth
A massive cavern beneath a West Antarctic glacier is teeming with life
A subglacial river has carved out the cavern beneath the Kamb Ice Stream, a West Antarctic glacier, and may be supplying nutrients necessary for life.
- Climate
Methane may not warm the Earth quite as much as previously thought
Methane absorbs both longwave and shortwave radiation, with competing effects on climate, a study finds. The gas remains a potent warmer of the planet.
- Climate
Many Antarctic glaciers are hemorrhaging ice. This one is healing its cracks
Scientists have explored the recesses of an Antarctic glacier that is currently stable, helping improve predictions of the continent’s fate.
- Climate
Rapid melting is eroding vulnerable cracks in Thwaites Glacier’s underbelly
Thwaites is melting slower than thought, but the worst of it is concentrated in underbelly cracks, threatening the Antarctica glacier’s stability.
- Animals
Tardigrades could teach us how to handle the rigors of space travel
Tardigrades can withstand X-rays, freezing and vacuum. Now researchers are learning how they do it, with an eye toward human space travel.
- Climate
Ancient penguin bones reveal unprecedented shrinkage in key Antarctic glaciers
Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers are losing ice faster than any other time in the last 5,500 years. That history is written in bones and shells.
