Despite the scientists’ call to action, Coral and Mark Landler report, the response from the White House was muted, with President Trump saying Tuesday evening only that he “will be looking at it.” Since the Trump administration has systematically worked to discredit climate science and dismantle regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it fit a pattern.

And yet Coral noted something significant: Despite its stance on climate science, the Trump administration formally approved the document. In the world of diplomacy, it sends a signal that even the Trump administration might not be willing to publicly buck the conclusions of the world’s top climate scientists.

Are any governments prepared to make the radical transformations in energy, agriculture and transportation that the United Nations scientific group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, says are needed?

It’s notable that the report came out just as the American economists William Nordhaus and Paul Romer won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science for their work on climate change — specifically, the notion that putting a price on carbon can be a powerful force for taming emissions. That idea, Brad reports, is picking up steam around the world.

What news might the coming days bring? As you read this, Hurricane Michael is expected to wallop the Florida Panhandle. Governor Rick Scott called it a “monstrous storm” and potentially the worst to hit that part of the state in decades. For more on how the United States handles disasters, this eye-opening piece by Kevin Sack and John Schwartz reports that at least $81 billion in taxpayer money has been spent on recovery projects since 1992, often with no regard for the realities of climate change.