At the COP26 climate conference, world leaders warned that inaction on climate wouldn’t just invite more hurricanes than we can name—it could literally topple governments.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the host of the negotiations, said in a speech that people’s anger would be “uncontainable” if leaders didn’t tackle the problem. A few days ago, Johnson compared the climate threat to “the decline and fall of the Roman empire.”

Hot temps = hotter tempers

Governments, especially in Europe, are concerned that the challenges of transitioning to a greener economy could spark a populist uprising of citizens, the NYT reports.

For example, look at what’s happening in European energy markets:

• As countries like the UK have phased out coal in a shift to renewables, they’ve become dependent on natural gas—but that has skyrocketed in price this fall.
• Spanish demonstrators took to the streets in September to protest spiraling electricity bills, leading the government to cap energy companies’ profits and help out households.

It’s not all about rich countries

Lower-income nations that face the more immediate threats of climate change—like rising sea levels and extreme heat—could become major sources of geopolitical instability, according to reports from the White House, the Pentagon, and US intelligence agencies last month.

This is a major change in thinking because up until now, the US military has mainly viewed climate change in terms of, “Let’s make sure we’re prepared for terrible weather.” The new approach is more like, “Climate change could spark wars, mass migration, and competition for dwindling resources that threaten global security.”

Looking ahead...doomsday predictions make great headlines, but they don’t solve any problems. World leaders will depart the COP26 today after wrapping up their speeches, leaving other government officials to nail down the details of actual policies.

One of those policies: India, the world’s third-largest emitter, said it would reach net-zero emissions by 2070 in a surprise announcement.—NF

Coca-Cola made its biggest push yet to dethrone Pepsi’s Gatorade as the sports drink king, agreeing to buy the rest of BodyArmor for $5.6 billion. That's expensive juice—so expensive that it’s Coke’s biggest acquisition in its history.

What’s BodyArmor? Founded in 2011 as a “natural alternative” to sugary sports drinks, the brand sold a 15% stake to Coke in 2018. Naomi Osaka and the late Kobe Bryant both backed BodyArmor, and it signed a multiyear deal with MLS in 2019.

• When combined with Powerade's reach, the BodyArmor deal would give Coke a 22% share of the US sports drink market.
• Still, Gatorade owns about 70% of that market. A huge chunk can be credited to Blue Frost’s hangover-healing powers.

Zoom out. Since he became Coke’s CEO in 2017, James Quincey set a path to become a “total beverage company.” Coke bought sparkling water brand Topo Chico in 2017, scooped up Costa Coffee in 2019, and took a stab at being milk guys when it bought lactose-free dairy brand Fairlife last year.

Fun fact: Kobe nabbed a 10% stake in BodyArmor in 2014, investing $6 million over time. His family will reportedly collect ~$400 million from the sale—more than Kobe made during his entire basketball career.—MM

On Sunday, Shanghai Disneyland closed for at least two days when a single weekend attendee tested positive for Covid after returning home.

In a bizarre scene, nearly 34,000 guests at the theme park on Sunday lined up to get tested by workers in hazmat suits before they could leave, even as Disney’s famous fireworks display rumbled around them.

• “I never thought that the longest queue in Disneyland would be for a nucleic acid test,” one guest posted to social media.

Big picture: China continues to pursue a strategy of shutting down society when any hint of a Covid outbreak appears.

• Two trains were stopped literally in their tracks last week when a couple of crew members were discovered to have been in close contact with infected people.
• And after finding a single positive case Saturday, one county in Jiangxi province turned all of its traffic lights red to discourage people from driving.

Bottom line: China’s “zero Covid” policy is increasingly at odds with how other countries are approaching Covid containment. Even lockdown-happy nations like Australia and New Zealand have abandoned their zero Covid strategy, arguing that the highly contagious Delta variant made it unworkable.—NF

Stat: Two-thirds of the homes Zillow purchased with the intent of flipping are listed below their purchase price, according to an analyst’s note. Now, after announcing a pause on home buying for 2021, the company is reportedly selling 7,000 homes for around $2.8 billion.

Quote: “Instead of tweets, allow me to show you. We can meet anywhere—Earth or space...”

The head of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, responded to Elon Musk, who wrote that if the WFP could describe how $6 billion would solve world hunger in a Twitter thread, he would “sell Tesla stock right now and do it.”

Read: The most comprehensive and compelling report of the January 6 attack on the Capitol yet. (The Washington Post)

The Squid Game cryptocurrency has a winner, and it’s not your favorite character. After the token jumped 310,000% in less than two weeks, its anonymous creators have liquidated their shares, making off with an estimated $2.1 million in an apparent scam.

The cryptocurrency, called SQUID, was worth $0.012 last Tuesday. By Friday, the coin had skyrocketed in price and was widely covered in the media for its huge gains and (unofficial) tie to the wildly popular Netflix series. The token’s price peaked Sunday night at $2,861.80 before dropping 100% to lose virtually all of its value.

SQUID popped onto the scene on October 20, purporting to be a pay-to-earn currency for an upcoming online game based on Squid Game. But, as Gizmodo points out, there were several red flags:

The coin’s website was filled with spelling and grammatical errors.

The Twitter account didn’t allow replies to posts.

Investors were unable to sell their coins.

Why take the risk? Have you watched the show? Memecoins like dogecoin that went parabolic made millionaires of early investors. But the SQUID episode shows how these hyper-speculative investments can fall just as hard.—MK

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Tech Tip Tuesday: Here’s how to share a YouTube video at a specific time mark.

Two work-related deep dives: 1) Hot streaks in your career don’t happen by accident and 2) untangling skill and luck

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Brew Mini: If you want a bit of a challenge, today's Mini will give your brain a workout. Play it here.

Spot the fake logos

A number of brands redesigned their logos this year. But of the six redesigned logos in the graphic below, two are not real. Can you spot the fakes?