How did humans get to the brink of crashing climate? A long push for progress and energy to fuel it

Earth's climate is in trouble, and the signs could be seen around the world this summer. Record-breaking heat, deadly flooding, withering droughts, wildfires that choked air for thousands of miles and more hurricanes growing rapidly. World leaders will convene late this month for another round of United Nations climate talks that seek to curb the greenhouse gas emissions that cause warming. Those emissions are a centuries-old problem that can be traced back to humans' never-ending impulse to shape the world around them in the name of progress — and their pursuit of the energy necessary to do it.