There is widespread coverage of the heatwave sweeping across many parts of the US, with Reuters describing it as “gargantuan”. It says that high daytime temperatures have been accompanied by high humidity and a failure to cool down overnight, though it notes that the heatwave was set to break by the end of the weekend. High nightime temperatures bring the biggest health risks, notes Vox, adding: “As the climate changes, summer nights are warming faster than days.” Similarly, the Washington Post says warmer nights are “a hallmark of our changing climate”, with summer low temperatures increasing “far faster than daytime highs”. The Guardian also covered the weekend heatwave, which it said on Friday evening had spread across half the US, adding: “[E]xperts warned [it] could become the ‘new normal’ because of the climate crisis.” Time magazine also describes the heatwave in the context of a “new normal”, pointing out that it comes after the hottest June on record globally. The Hill says the “historic heatwave” was due to cover two-thirds of the US over the weekend, “forcing energy companies to brace for maxed out grids and potential blackouts”. This would also “create a spike in carbon emissions”, it adds. The publication continues: “Some scientists say the temperature spikes experienced across the country are likely exacerbated by climate change, with extended and dramatic heat periods happening more frequently.” E&E News also points to the strain and additional CO2 emissions from the US grid as Americans turn to air conditioning during the heatwave . NPR asks if the US heatwave can be linked to climate change, with a guest saying: “Yes, sort of. Average temperatures are rising, right? The hottest days are getting hotter, heat waves are getting longer. So that means weather like this is more likely.” CBS News says the heatwave “threaten[ed] to scorch the economy”, adding: “The financial community is increasingly concerned as extreme weather, which is projected to become more common, is likely to have a huge impact on the US economy in the coming decades.” Separately, a number of British publications report that the UK is set to face a “mini heatwave” this week, with the Daily Telegraph saying it “could feel as hot 44C” due to heat and humidity.

The UK government is considering a “carbon charge” on flights, reports the Guardian, under which passengers could “choose to pay more for travel tickets”. Options under consideration include an “opt-in” or “opt-out” approach to the charge, which the Guardian says could also be applied to trains, buses and ferries. The paper continues: “The extra funds could be used to spearhead eco-friendly projects such as planting trees to reduce the carbon footprint. The government said it hoped the initiative would ‘drive consumer choices towards less polluting journey options’.” Meanwhile BusinessGreen reports that the government has launched £80m in funding for research into electric cars and planes, as well as another £60m for a “sustainable plastics challenge”. The money is designed to accelerate the pursuit of the UK’s net-zero target, BusinessGreen says. The Daily Telegraph also reports on the £60m plastics research. Separately, a Guardian data feature explains “how taking one flight emits as much as many people do in a year”. And columnist Guardian Oliver Burkeman says “skipping a flight may not save the Arctic, but it means you care”.

European funds managing $2tn in assets have called on the cement industry to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, reports Reuters. The organisations have written to four construction groups, says the Financial Times, urging them to cut their emissions to net-zero by 2050. The paper says the investment organisations are starting to address new sectors, following “recent success” at oil and gas firms such as Shell “where investors were instrumental in pushing the oil major to set carbon emissions targets and link these to executive pay”.

US firm Blackhawk Mining is the latest in a string of coal company bankruptcies, reports Axios. The failures “began before President Trump’s tenure but have picked up lately”, it notes, adding: “They signal the challenge he faces in making good on pledges to revive the sector.” Bloomberg also covers the bankruptcy filing, saying Blackhawk had debts of around $1bn, compared to annual earnings of just $165m. Meanwhile an Axios guest article looks at the trend for insurers to “back away from coal”, with some 15 firms around the world having announced restrictions on their business with miners and utilities. Separately, Associated Press reports on Indiana’s largest utility, Duke Energy, being criticised for not retiring its ageing coal-fired power stations more quickly. And in Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald reports on shareholder efforts to force the country’s largest utility to clean up air pollution emissions from its coal fleet.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has accused the state body responsible for tracking deforestation of disclosing false data, Reuters reports, after preliminary July satellite data indicated a “dramatic rise”. It quotes Bolsonaro saying: “I am convinced that the data is a lie”. Separately, the Independent reports that the investors in the world’s largest producer of eucalyptus pulp, Fibria, have been accused of indirectly causing deforestation in Brazil.

Climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion (XR) was banned from using its trademark boats on Friday, report Reuters and the Daily Telegraph. A second Telegraph article covers the protests under the headline: “Extinction Rebellion cause nationwide chaos – but claim they aren’t anarchists.” In the Independent, Nick Hilton asks why it has become “mainstream” to criticise XR even though “it is no longer acceptable to question climate change”. Writing in the Sunday Times, commentator Dominic Lawson says “Politicians and the police must stop indulging Extinction Rebellion”.

Central bankers “are beginning to worry about…the potential for climate change to trigger financial crisis”, writes Adam Tooze, professor of history and director of the European Institute at Columbia University, in an article for Foreign Policy. He points to efforts, led by Bank of England governor Mark Carney, to assess and respond to this risk, noting the “telling” fact that “the only financial authority not to be involved in these initiatives is the US Federal Reserve”. Tooze notes that central banks “have the powers to be a major part of the climate response”, whereas so far their actions have been “defensive”, relating to managing risk. He concludes: “Decarbonisation is a vastly more complex technical, economic, and social problem [than the financial crisis]. But to embark on solving it we need to mobilise all the resources we can muster. The essential responsibility of the central banks is to ensure that money does not stand in the way.”

“The original moon shoot inspired billions,” writes journalist John Schwartz in the New York Times. He continues: “Calling climate action a moon shot isn’t a perfect parallel – but maybe we should try it anyway.” He cautions, however, that President Kennedy “did not have to convince people that the moon existed”. For Yale Climate Connections, journalist Michael Svoboda makes a similar argument, around America’s ability to put a man on the moon meaning it “should be able” to solve the technical and scientific challenges of addressing climate change. But he adds: “Political challenges then would remain to be addressed.” A comment in BusinessGreen, from Obliquity Group’s Simon Kelly, argues: “[O]ur footprints on the moon offer hope for how we can overcome the biggest challenge facing humanity today – the collective footprint on our own planet.”

“As crops fail and livestock wither and die, tribal communities that have survived for centuries are breaking apart,” begins a weekend “long read” in the Financial Times magazine. Journalist Harry Johnstone writes: “[O]ver the past 50 years, temperatures in Sindh province, south-eastern Pakistan, have risen by more than 1.5C…In January, I decided to visit [the country] to try to learn more about the lives of some of those most vulnerable to global warming.” Johnstone sets out the risks facing the country, including a lack of food, vulnerability to floods and a shortage of fresh water, contributing to what he describes as a “slow-motion humanitarian crisis”.

Energy policy will probably be the last thing on likely new British prime minister Boris Johnson’s mind as he takes office, writes Andy Critchlow, head of EMEA news at S&P Global Platts, in an article for the Daily Telegraph. But a new energy policy “should be at the heart of his vision for Britain”, he says, pointing to issues including how to fund new nuclear plants and shift the transport fleet to electric vehicles. Critchlow concludes: “A visionary energy policy could give him the economic platform he needs to hold centre stage, but it won’t be cheap.” Writing in his weekly Financial Times column, Nick Butler says energy policy is “an opportunity for Britain’s new prime minister”, adding that next year’s COP26 UN summit, expected to be held in the UK, is “a chance to lead the world on climate change”. Butler says: “Fracking may be safe but it is unnecessary, and uncompetitive…A vast programme of new nuclear developments at the prices set for Hinkley Point now looks ridiculous and impossible to finance. Meanwhile, climate change has become a more urgent problem.” Butler argues for research and development of “all the possible solutions” including grid energy storage, hydrogen, energy efficiency and smart grids.

Olive harvests in the southern Iberia and some parts of Italy could fall by 45% by the end of the century as the climate changes, a study finds. However, parts of the eastern Mediterranean could see longer growing seasons as temperatures warm – leading to yield increases of up to 15%, the research adds. The authors say: “We conclude that climate change may negatively impact the viability of olive orchards in southern Iberia and some parts of Italy. Thus, adequate and timely planning of suitable adaptation measures are needed to ensure the sustainability of the olive sector.”