Douglas Fox

Freelance Writer

Douglas Fox is a freelance journalist who writes about life, earth and Antarctic sciences. His stories have appeared in Scientific American, National Geographic, Esquire, Virginia Quarterly Review, High Country News, Discover, Nature and The Best American Science and Nature Writing. His stories have garnered awards from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (2011), the National Association of Science Writers (2013), the American Geophysical Union (2015 and 2018) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2009 and 2017). Doug is a contributing author to The Science Writers’ Handbook (Da Capo, 2013).

All Stories by Douglas Fox

  1. Earth

    A landslide in a Greenland fjord echoed around Earth for 9 days

    Warming permafrost and glacial melt destabilized a fragile mountain slope, leading to a landslide-triggered tsunami in a fjord. Is this a sign of more to come?

  2. Earth

    As Yellowstone’s supervolcano slumbers, another big danger lurks

    Superheated water beneath Yellowstone could fuel hydrothermal explosions with the force of an atomic bomb. And lessons from the past suggest they could happen today.

  3. Plants

    Rampaging vines are slowly strangling tropical forests

    Called lianas,these vines are growing out of control. They may cause tropical forests to absorb less carbon dioxide — worsening climate change.

  4. Ecosystems

    A weird upside-down world lurks beneath Antarctica’s ice

    A vast swath of ocean surrounds Antarctica, hidden under the ice. Here, strange creatures burrow into the dark underbelly of a floating glacier.

  5. Climate

    Warmer seas trigger skyrocketing ice loss in 3 Antarctic glaciers

    Destabilized by waves and vanishing sea ice, one of the glaciers lost 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) of ice in 16 months — a possible hint of worse to come.

  6. Earth

    Under the ice, a hidden lake hints at its origin — and coming end

    Lake Mercer may serve as a model for better understanding the birth and life of Antarctica’s hundreds of subglacial lakes.

  7. Earth

    A natural ‘cathedral’ lurks deep under Antarctic ice

    By drilling into this cavern, scientists have opened a window into the mysterious world of hidden lakes, their occupants — and rivers that run uphill.

  8. Animals

    Living mysteries: This critter has 38 times more DNA than you do

    The genomes of salamanders are bloated with genetic “parasites.” That extra DNA slows down their lives and strands them in perpetual childhood.

  9. Earth

    Uplifting Antarctic shores point to accelerating loss of glaciers

    It appears the Pine Island and “Doomsday” Thwaites glaciers are losing ice — and shrinking faster — than at any time in the past 5,500 years.

  10. Earth

    A bold plan to save the planet turns carbon dioxide into stone

    Scientists hope that capturing carbon dioxide this way will limit both further warming of our planet and an escalation of extreme weather events.

  11. Animals

    Living mysteries: Why teeny-weeny tardigrades are tough as nails

    Tardigrades often live in cool, damp moss. Their cushy life has somehow prepared them to survive the lethal radiation of outer space.

  12. Earth

    Strange lake belches flammable gas in the high Arctic

    Lake Esieh is bubbling out surprising amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas. Scientists wonder if it’s one of a kind, or a warning of more to come.