What makes an unexceptional weather pattern lead to exceptional heat? The obvious answer—climate change driven by greenhouse gases—is the correct one. A quick assessment offered by ClimaMeter, a consortium of scientists based at France’s Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, suggests that climate change has made the heatwave 2°C-4°C worse than it would have been under the same conditions in the second half of the 20th century. Economist

To achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century, global energy systems must undergo a wholesale switch to low-carbon and energy-efficient technologies. However, many models used to chart this transition imply that there are benefits in delaying investment in these technologies, waiting instead for R&D to drive down costs over time. Our new paper in Environmental Research Letters draws on evidence from more than 200 journal articles and concludes that policies promoting such “induced innovation” have been a clear factor behind the remarkable success of low-carbon technologies. Carbon Brief

A report commissioned by federal regulators overseeing the nation’s commodities markets has concluded that climate change threatens U.S. financial markets, as the costs of wildfires, storms, droughts and floods spread through insurance and mortgage markets, pension funds and other financial institutions. New York Times

If we stay on the current business-as-usual trajectory, we could see two degrees as soon as the early 2030s, three degrees around mid-century, and four degrees by 2075 or so. If we’re unlucky with positive feedbacks…from thawing permafrost in the Arctic or collapsing tropical rainforests, then we could be in for five or even six degrees by century’s end. New York Review of Books

This is a seven-day New York Times crash course on climate change, in which reporters from the Times’s Climate desk address the big questions: 1.How bad is climate change now? 2.How do scientists know what they know? 3.Who is influencing key decisions? 4.How do we stop fossil fuel emissions? 5.Do environmental rules matter? 6.Can insurance protect us? 7.Is what I do important? New York Times

UN climate negotiations alone are unlikely to result in the rapid decarbonization that is needed. Now is the time for a new international treaty to get to the root of the problem, by addressing fossil fuel supply—with wealthy nations moving first and fastest. Drawing on the model of the nuclear treaty, a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, like the nuclear treaty before it, would be constructed around three main pillars: non-proliferation, disarmament, and peaceful use. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists