Three Steps to Protect the United States Against Extreme Heat
November 9th, 2025 Via the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a report on extreme heat: The Issue Extreme heat is becoming an urgent priority in the United States and beyond. The threat posed by extreme [...]
Drought is Quietly Pushing American Cities Toward a Fiscal Cliff
November 3rd, 2025 Via Grist, a look at how drought is set to pose a greater risk to the $4 trillion municipal bond market than floods, hurricanes, and wildfires combined: The city of Clyde sits about two hours west of [...]
Photoluminescent Radiative Cooling for Aesthetic and Urban Comfort
October 26th, 2025 Via Nature, a new article examining the potential of passive radiative cooling to reduce carbon emissions in space cooling by simultaneously reflecting sunlight and emitting thermal radiation: [...]
The Shopping Mall: The Climate Bunker We Already Have?
October 26th, 2025 Via Next City, commentary exploring how – while many thought the shopping mall was a monument to collapse – it may actually have a new life as a climate shelter: When it’s 115? degrees [...]
New York Is Going to Flood. Here’s What the City Can Do to Survive.
October 17th, 2025 Via New York Times, a look at New York City’s flooded future: The waters surrounding New York allowed it to grow into an economic powerhouse. But what has been a blessing is increasingly a [...]
Cleaner and Smarter: Smart Urban Districts Around the World
October 17th, 2025 Via Illuminem, a report on smart districts around the world: More than half (55%) of the world’s population now lives in cities, and by 2050 this figure will increase to 68%. Due to demographic [...]

ABOUT
BLACK SWANS GREEN SHOOTS
Black Swans / Green Shoots examines the collision between urbanization and resource scarcity in a world affected by climate change, identifying opportunities to build sustainable cities and resilient infrastructure through the use of revolutionary capital, increased awareness, innovative technologies, and smart design to make a difference in the face of global and local climate perils.

'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.