How One New Jersey Beach City Went From ‘Worst to First’ In Reducing Flood Risk
March 17th, 2024
Via Smart Cities Dive, a look at Sea Isle City’s success in reducing flood risk and building resilience: Sea Isle City, New Jersey, had a dismal flood management reputation for a long time — one so bad that the beach community almost got booted from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program in the […]
Read more »Sinking Cities Push Sea Level Rise Into Overdrive
March 6th, 2024
Via CNN, an article on how sinking cities are pushing sea level rise into overdrive: Dozens of cities along the US coastline are sinking at alarming rates, leaving them far more exposed to devastating flooding from sea level rise than previously thought, scientists reported Wednesday. As oceans rise and the coasts sink, up to 343,000 acres of land will […]
Read more »Underwater: Exploring the Map of the World in 2100
February 15th, 2024
Courtesy of Hasan Jasim, an interesting set of maps that anticipates – and graphically shows – the impact of sea level rise in decades ahead: Alright, not of the entire world, but a large part of it. In this alarming future scenario drawn up by Jay Simons, the sea level has risen drastically and is […]
Read more »The Hidden Threat From Rising Coastal Groundwater
February 11th, 2024
Via Maven’s Notebook, a report on the threat that sea level rise won’t hit just homes on shorefronts, but also the infrastructure beneath our feet: When people think about sea level rise, many picture scenarios like flooded coastlines in Florida or Bangladesh, and beachfront homes succumbing to erosion on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. […]
Read more »Going Dutch: An Approach to Flood Control Flows into Charleston
February 5th, 2024
Via Charleston City Paper, a look at how Charleston is borrowing flood control techniques from the Dutch: The Dutch solution to flood control is not confined to its iconic 17th century crescent-shaped network of canals lined with skinny houses and flat houseboats that form an inner-city drainage and transportation system in Amsterdam’s historic core. In […]
Read more »Coastal Cities Brace for Climate Change
February 4th, 2024
Courtesy of The New York Times, a report on how coastal cities are bracing for climate change: Over the past few weeks, flooding from storms has battered cities in the South and the East Coast, from Louisiana to New Jersey. Overlapping atmospheric rivers over the West Coast have brought heavy rains that are likely to come back in the next […]
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.