By Andrew Freedman, CNN

(CNN) — The frigid temperatures, massive snow and deadly ice storm taking shape east of the Rockies might seem to conflict with life on a rapidly warming planet. But all of these things still happen, even with climate change, and some of them could be even more severe than before when the conditions are right.

Bone-chilling cold is becoming less common and severe as the world warms — cold comfort for millions of people about to experience a prolonged period of frigid temperatures. Winter is the fastest-warming season in the US, and even this winter so far, warm temperature records have been outnumbering cold records in the Lower 48 states.

This is largely because many states in the West are having their warmest winter on record, with ski areas in Colorado and other typical skiing meccas in that region starved for snow.

Relatively few cold temperature records have been set so far when compared to the warm records out West, said Bernadette Woods Placky, chief meteorologist at the research nonprofit Climate Central. But there is no denying that this weather is unusually cold, she said, describing it as more like the winters that the Midwest and Northeast were accustomed to experiencing a few decades ago.

Climate Central researchers looked at trends in the coldest temperature of the year in cities across the US, showing that they have been increasing rapidly with climate change. For example, in Minneapolis, the lowest temperature of the year has increased by around 12 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970.

And in Cleveland, the coldest temperature of the year has gone up by 11.2 degrees since 1970, the research shows. This means winters just haven’t been getting as cold as they used to, making this cold snap rarer, though it remains to be seen whether many all-time cold temperature records are tied or broken.

Other experts point to the winter storm and particularly the Arctic cold that will follow in its wake and note that climate change may itself be playing a role in instigating them. Jennifer Francis, a researcher at the Woodwell Climate Research Center who has studied changes in the polar vortex as the world warms, said she’s seeing evidence in this storm.

“Even though global warming is causing warmer winters overall, severe winter weather events are still possible — and perhaps even more likely — because warming is not the only consequence of human-caused climate change,” she said. “Other ingredients that set the stage for severe winter weather are on the rise, and many of them are in play this week.”

The cold air invading from the Arctic comes courtesy of the polar vortex, as its frigid lobes rotate around a main frigid whirl near Hudson Bay in Canada.

The polar vortex is a roaring, circular wall of wind that typically confines frigid air to the Arctic. But when it stretches out, it can dip south and bring the cold air with it. That is what is happening across the U.S. now with a big dip, or trough, in the jet stream across the Central and Eastern states.

Judah Cohen, a research scientist at MIT, said the stretching of the vortex is tied in pa

By Jacopo Prisco, CNN

(CNN) — Space junk falling out of orbit and crashing toward Earth is a growing threat. Indeed, old satellites and spacecraft parts reenter our planet’s atmosphere more than three times a day.

When these objects burn through the atmosphere, they can release harmful substances, and if they reach Earth’s surface, they can contaminate the environment as well as collide with buildings, other infrastructure and possibly even people.

However, tracking falling debris in an effort to mitigate its impact is complicated because space junk can deorbit suddenly as it travels at speeds up to 18,000 miles per hour. Current methods to monitor falling space junk use radar and optical tracking but they struggle to accurately predict where most objects could land, especially if the debris breaks up during reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. This lack of precise location data can delay or prevent the recovery of dangerous toxic space residue.

Now, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University and Imperial College London say they’ve found a new way to help spot space junk during reentry. Their approach uses seismometers, the instruments that normally detect earthquakes in the ground.

The trick is to look for data indicating a sonic boom — the shock wave produced when an object exceeds the speed of sound — which the falling debris generates as it tumbles through the atmosphere.

“We’ve known for a long time that space debris reentering the atmosphere produces sonic booms, exactly the same way as natural meteoroids or supersonic aircraft produce sonic booms,” said Benjamin Fernando, a postdoctoral research fellow at Johns Hopkins, who studies earthquakes on Mars, Earth and other planets in our solar system.

“I did a lot of work on a NASA mission called InSight, where we tried to use meteoroids as seismic sources on Mars, with a single seismometer,” added Fernando, who coauthored a paper with Constantinos Charalambous, a research fellow at Imperial College London, on the new method that published Thursday in the journal Science.

The InSight lander, which touched down on Mars in 2018, has detected more than 1,300 marsquakes, a handful of which were produced by meteoroids striking the surface, rather than by the movement of rocks within the planet. InSight was able to “hear” the shock waves that the meteoroids produced as they entered Mars’ thin atmosphere and then pinpoint the location of the impact. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was subsequently flown over these craters to study and photograph them, revealing important insights about the red planet’s surface.

“The big step in this paper was taking some of the techniques we developed for studying natural meteoroids on Earth and Mars and applying them to the study of space debris on Earth,” Fernando said.

“But in many ways, space debris is quite different to natural space objects — it tends to enter the atmosphere more slowly and at a much shallower angle. It also ten

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Jose Trinidad Bueno Garcia of Van Nuys was sentenced to 15 years in state prison for operating a large-scale fentanyl trafficking scheme across Ventura County.

Garcia previously pled guilty to a charge of conspiracy to possess fentanyl for sale and admitted that the offense involved more than four kilograms of fentanyl which triggered a weight enhancement at his later sentencing detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Of his 15 year sentence, 13 of those years come from enhancements authorized after the passage of Proposition 36, the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act in November of 2024, explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

That law increased the sentencing penalties defendants face depending on the gross weight of the narcotics involved in their charged violations and took effect in December of 2024.

Between May and October of last year, detectives with the Ventura County Combined Agency Team investigated a Los Angeles County-based drug trafficking organization and established that the organization was sourcing fentanyl and methamphetamine from Mexico and selling those drugs in Ventura County shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

On Oct. 1, 2025, detectives executed a search warrant at Garcia's home in Van Nuys were they seized about 3,574 gross grams of fentanyl, 261 grams of methamphetamine, $32,406, and additional evidence of narcotics sales detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

The image below, courtesy of the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, shows some of the seized items from the Oct. 1 search of Garcia's home.

Search warrants were also served at four other locations and a total of around 6,517 grams of fentanyl, an estimated equivalent of 325,850 lethal doses noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Additional defendants connected to the investigation are scheduled for an early disposition conference on Jan. 29, 2026, stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

"This defendant led a drug trafficking organization responsible for moving an enormous amount of
fentanyl into our community, putting countless lives at risk," said Deputy District Attorney Devin Mirchi who prosecuted the case. "This sentence reflects the seriousness of the defendant’s conduct and sends a clear message that fentanyl trafficking will be met with significant consequences in Ventura County."

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By Haley Britzky, CNN

(CNN) — The luxury Qatari jet being transformed into a new Air Force One will be delivered this summer, the Air Force said in a statement, roughly a year after its extensive modification began.

“The Air Force remains committed to expediting delivery of the VC-25 bridge aircraft in support of the Presidential airlift mission, with an anticipated delivery no later than summer 2026,” an Air Force spokesperson told CNN on Thursday.

It’s unclear if the plane will be immediately operational once it is delivered, or if more testing would need to be conducted before it is fit to fly for the president. The Wall Street Journal first reported the delivery date of this summer.

The Air Force has not previously provided a firm timeline for the project, though President Donald Trump said last year the plane could be ready to use by February 2026— an ambitious timeline given the substantial work needed to be done on the aircraft to make it a suitable to operate as Air Force One.

The US began converting the jet last year, though details related to the modification are largely classified.

The Boeing 747 aircraft — a “gift” donated by Qatar, Trump said last year — would need to undergo considerable changes in order to address intelligence and security risks. CNN previously reported it would need to be stripped down to its frame by US agencies, and rebuilt with necessary communications and security equipment.

“You would want to check the airplane out completely – strip it down, check for bugs, things like that, harden it to make sure nobody could hijack the electronics on the airplane … The ability for the president to command and control his military in the worst days, that takes a lot,” a retired senior military official familiar with Air Force One previously told CNN.

Other features like the ability to refuel mid-air, for example, are not standard for conventional 747 aircraft, but would be a necessary capability if the president wanted to remain airborne in the instance of a major emergency.

The Air Force spokesperson on Thursday said the service was working with “other government entities to ensure proper security measures and function-mission requirements are considered” for the aircraft.

An agreement signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Qatari counterpart last year said the donation of the plane was “unconditional” and confirmed the US would not pay anything to Qatar. Still, the US was expected to spend hundreds of millions of dollars converting the aircraft.

The project was expected to cost “probably less than $400 million,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers last year.

Earlier this week an electrical issue forced Trump’s Europe-bound plane to turn back to Joint Base Andrews.

To resume his trip to Switzerland, the president switched Tuesday to a Boeing C-32A, which is often used by the first lady or Cabinet members

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CNN Editorial Research

(CNN) — Here is a look at the life of Baseball Hall of Fame player Hank Aaron.

Personal

Birth date: February 5, 1934

Death date: January 22, 2021

Birth place: Mobile, Alabama

Birth name: Henry Louis Aaron

Father: Herbert Aaron

Mother: Estella (Pritchett) Aaron

Marriages: Billye Williams (1973-January 22, 2021, his death); Barbara Lucas (1953-1971, divorced)

Children: with Billye Williams: adopted her daughter, Ceci; with Barbara Lucas: Dorinda, twins Lary and Gary (Gary died in the hospital), Hank Jr. and Gaile

Other Facts

Statistics in his 23-season career include 3,771 hits, 755 home runs and a batting average of .305.

Selected for 25 Major League Baseball All-Star games.

Nicknamed “Hammerin’ Hank.”

The Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers have both retired his jersey number, 44.

His brother, Tommie, was also a MLB player.

Won three Gold Glove awards.

Timeline

1951 – Begins playing for the Negro American League’s Indianapolis Clowns.

April 13, 1954 – Makes his MLB debut with the Milwaukee Braves.

1954-1965 – Plays for the Milwaukee Braves.

April 23, 1954 – Hits his first Major League home run when the Braves play the St. Louis Cardinals.

1957 – The Milwaukee Braves win the World Series. Aaron is named National League MVP.

1966 – The Milwaukee Braves become the Atlanta Braves.

1966-1974 – Plays for the Atlanta Braves.

April 8, 1974 – Breaks Babe Ruth’s record with his 715th home run during a home game.

1974-1976 – Plays for the Milwaukee Brewers.

July 20, 1976 – Hits his final home run (755).

October 3, 1976 – Plays his final game.

1976-1989 – Becomes director of player development for the Atlanta Braves.

August 1, 1982 – Is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1989-2021 – Senior vice president of the Atlanta Braves.

1995 – Founds the 755 Restaurant Corporation, which operates multiple fast food franchises in Georgia.

1999 – In honor of the 25th anniversary of his home run record, MLB announces the creation of the Hank Aaron Award, to be given to the best overall hitter in each league.

2002 – Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

August 7, 2007 – Barry Bonds, of the San Francisco Giants, surpasses Aaron’s record with 756 home runs.

April 25, 2009 – The permanent exhibit, Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream, opens at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. There are only two exhibits that honor a single player; the other is for Babe Ruth.

February 13, 2010 – Is inducted as a Georgia Trustee by the Georgia Historical Society.

April 14, 2010 – The Read more