Home / Alexandra Witze

I’m a science journalist in Boulder, Colorado, who specializes in the earth, planetary and astronomical sciences. See below for selected clips, or check out my Twitter feed for more recent news (@alexwitze).

My book ISLAND ON FIRE, coauthored with my husband Jeff Kanipe, is about the extraordinary 18th-century eruption of the Icelandic volcano Laki.

Reach me at witzescience@gmail.com.

Knowable • 14th March 2019

The secrets of extreme wildfires

Researchers probe the weather-like physics of deadly infernos.

Nature • 22nd November 2018

Why extreme rains are gaining strength as the climate warms

From Atlantic hurricanes to the Indian monsoons, storms are getting worse and becoming more erratic.

Nature • 19th September 2018

The quest to conquer Earth’s space junk problem

Zombie satellites, rocket shards and collision debris are creating major traffic risks in orbits around the planet.

The Atlantic • 26th April 2018

Earth may have been formed by a bunch of tiny space pebbles

In the early days of our solar system, the fastest way to build a planet was likely through small bodies, not giant ones, crashing into each other.

Science News • 5th April 2018

Flying insects tell tales of long-distance migrations

Every autumn, a quiet mountain pass in the Swiss Alps turns into an insect superhighway.

Air & Space Magazine • 1st October 2017

As the earth melts

ABOVE THE NORTHEAST GREENLAND ICE STREAM — Seen from the window of a Lockheed P-3 Orion turboprop flying at 1,500 feet, Greenland’s ice seems to go on forever.

Science News • 26th July 2017

How earthquake scientists eavesdrop on North Korea’s nuclear blasts

Waves and ripples in the Earth can reveal the location and depth of an explosion.

Nature • 18th January 2017

The $2.4-billion plan to steal a rock from Mars

NASA is now building the rover that it hopes will bring back signs of life on the red planet.