World leaders have two weeks at the UN Climate Change Conference to figure out how to get a handle on global warming. That’s a good vacation’s worth of time to determine the future of the planet. Can they muster the political will to transform global energy systems and reduce greenhouse gas emissions? We rounded up the best articles to navigate that question and others related to COP21:

COMICAL CLIMATE: If you’re a visual learner, Nature’s nine-page comic book is for you. It illustrates the 25-year quest for a climate treaty, starting with the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and ending at COP21, Paris. Go ahead, click—we won’t judge.

FITBITS FOR EVERYONE: Vox likens the countries making climate pledges to a bunch of “out-of-shape slobs” trying to qualify for a relay race. They explain that COP21 isn’t designed to make racers (read: nations) fit, but to force them to go grudgingly to the gym and buy a few spin classes for the poorer competitors.

TRICK-OR-TREATY?: Some nations, like the United States, want an agreement that’s kinda, sorta binding so that they won’t have to garner support for a treaty in the Republican-controlled Senate. The Atlantic’s piece examines how to produce the legal framework for committments that hold.

PARIS, JE NE T’AIME PAS: In Paris, protesters clash with riot police as UN climate talks unfold nearby, the horrific ISIS-affiliated acts of terror still fresh on everyone's mind—are these events related? They are, according to Motherboard, and Paris is probably a microcosmic snapshot of our future under climate change.

COAL STORY, BRO: Mary Anne Hitt, Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, points out that no matter what path we take to a safe climate, we’ve got to kick coal to the curb.

TAKE A HIKE: Sierra magazine’s editor-in-chief takes a cue from John Muir and suggests negotiators in Paris spend some time in the great outdoors to remember what’s at stake.

(Don’t forget about Slate’s technocratic jargon-busting guide when you get stumped on some of COP21’s cryptic acronyms.)