Box has said that humanity has likely already set in motion 21 m (69 feet) of
sea level rise as a result of the burning of fossil fuels. He protested against the construction of the
Keystone XL pipeline in 2011, and signed a letter to President Obama urging him not to approve it, which was sent earlier that year and was also signed by
James Hansen and
Peter Gleick. In 2013, Box's prediction of complete Greenland surface melting, which was later proven correct, received attention when it was covered by
Bill McKibben in
Rolling Stone. His research into this area was based on observations of Greenland, which revealed that its ice was becoming increasingly dark. In 2014, Box traveled to Greenland, where he discovered that the ice there was exceptionally dark, with Box saying that he was "stunned" when he saw it. That summer, after hearing about the ship
Oden finding methane in the Arctic, Box tweeted, "If even a small fraction of Arctic sea floor carbon is released to the atmosphere, we're fucked." This tweet was covered extensively by the media. Thomas Painter of NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory has said that Box "...has one very important quality as a scientist;" namely, that he "is willing to say crazy stuff and push the boundaries of conventional wisdom." ==Media appearances==