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A new study has found that the temperature increases from global warming may be twice as bad over what previous climate studies have forecast. This study made use of historical data from previous geological periods when Earth’s climate was 0.5°C-2°C warmer than the 19th Century’s pre-industrial average, illustrating that the consequences of runaway global warming could spell the collapse of many ecosystems, ranging from the Sahara Desert becoming green, to tropical regions converting to a fire-prone savanna.
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A combination of a series of three storm systems and a blast of Arctic air are prompting forecasts of an extended cold snap across the US, with temperatures in some parts of the north-central states expected to dip as low as 30ºF below normal. The regions expected to be affected include the Upper Midwest, Great lakes, Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and New England.

Mashable’s Andrew Freedman describes the February-like conditions that are visiting the continent as yet another consequence of the polar vortex pushing Arctic air in a southeasterly direction. 12 inches of snow is forecast for higher elevations in West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland, with Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston possibly seeing lighter snowfall on Saturday.
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East Antarctica’s Totten Glacier has been revealed to be more unstable than previously anticipated. New research has found that portions of the glacier that were thought to be on stable ground are actually floating on seawater, prompting concerns over the ice sheet’s stability, and its potential to significantly contribute to the acceleration of sea level rise.

Totten Glacier is a flowing ice field that is more than three-quarters the size of Texas, and holds a massive volume of ice that could raise sea levels by 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) if it were to completely melt.
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A joint team of researchers with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and private company Commonwealth Fusion Systems is predicting that they will have a viable nuclear fusion reactor generating electricity and attached to the electrical grid within the next fifteen years.

A recent breakthrough in superconductor technology that involves the use of steel tape coated with a compound called yttrium-barium-copper oxide (YBCO) allows reactor designers to shrink the size of the magnets that contain the super-hot plasma fuel within the reactor, making them more powerful, and thus lowering the amount of energy required to run the reactor.
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