The Critical Role Trees Play During Heat Waves
July 17th, 2024
Via Time, an article on the critical role that trees play during heat waves: My two-year-old is too young to know about climate change. He doesn’t understand what an “urban heat island” is either. He just knows that his papa keeps saying “No” because it’s too hot out to go to our local park in […]
Read more »The Surprisingly Simple Way Cities Could Save People From Extreme Heat
July 16th, 2024
Via Grist, an article on the impact that reflective cool roofs can have on reducing the ‘urban heat island’ effect: The city is a growing paradox. Humanity needs its many efficiencies: People living more densely and taking up less land — with easy access to decarbonized public transportation — collaborating and innovating as urbanites have […]
Read more »Stay Cool: Cutting-Edge Technology Could Massively Reduce the Amount of Energy Used for Air Conditioning
July 16th, 2024
Via Wired, a report on one effort to make air conditioning more efficient: PHOTOGRAPH: NOSTROMO ENERGY The Chinese bus company couldn’t work it out. Some days when its buses merely crawled along Shanghai’s streets, their power consumption would go through the roof. The reason why was a mystery. So, a team from the US firm […]
Read more »The Best Roofs to Keep London Cool in Summer May Not Be Green
July 16th, 2024
Via Bloomberg, a look at new research showing that white roofs are most effective at cooling the city down on the hottest summer days: Increasingly hot summer days in London have city dwellers seeking relief. And a new study shows the best bet might not be green roofs but white ones. Conventional wisdom has long held […]
Read more »We Built Our World For A Climate That No Longer Exists
July 13th, 2024
Via CNN, commentary on the growing tension between climate change and existing urban infrastructure: Earlier this week, the Third Avenue Bridge in Manhattan had to be shut down because the bridge – which pivots to allow ships to pass – wouldn’t close correctly. Why? Because it was so hot in New York City that day the […]
Read more »Ancient Technology That Is Helping Millions Stay Cool
July 10th, 2024
Via Wired, an article on cheap low-energy evaporative cooling devices are keeping water, food, people, and even whole buildings cool across India. This summer, India has endured possibly its worst ever heatwave. The capital, Delhi, logged a record high of 52.9 degrees Celsius (127 degrees Fahrenheit) on May 29, while India’s northern states have baked at sustained […]
Read more »'Black Swans' are highly improbable events that come as a surprise, have major disruptive effects, and that are often rationalized after the fact as if they had been predictable to begin with. In our rapidly warming world, such events are occurring ever more frequently and include wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.
'Green Shoots' is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during a downturn. It references a period of growth and recovery, when plants start to show signs of health and life, and, therefore, has been employed as a metaphor for a recovering economy.
It is my hope that Black Swans / Green Shoots will help readers understand both climate-activated risk and opportunity so that you may invest in, advise, or lead organizations in the context of increasing pressures of global urbanization, resource scarcity, and perils relating to climate change. I believe that the tools of business and finance can help individuals, businesses, and global society make informed choices about who and what to protect, and I hope that this blog provides some insight into the policy and private sector tools used to assess investments in resilient reinforcement, response, or recovery.