The Ordinary Ceiling Fan May Be an Extraordinary Cooling Solution
January 8th, 2025
As global temperatures rise, ceiling fans are essential for millions who lack access to air conditioning. In India, for example, nearly 90% of households use ceiling fans. By 2038, an estimated 950 million fans will be installed across the country — more than double the number in 2017. Adopting super-efficient ceiling fans on a large […]
Read more »Urban Forests: Planting The Wrong Trees In the Wrong Places Can Diminish Cooling Benefits
January 8th, 2025
Via Anthropocene Magazine, commentary on the first comprehensive global study of the effect of trees on urban temperature, in which researchers discovered that in hot, compact cities, narrow species and sparse planting strategies work best: Urban trees need to be planted strategically to maximize their ability to help keep cities cool, according to a new […]
Read more »The Business Case For Saving Coral Reefs
January 6th, 2025
Via Grist, an interesting look at a growing body of research shows the nation’s coral reefs protect $1.8 billion in economic assets each year and should be protected for our sake and their own: Days after hurricanes Irma and Maria tore through Puerto Rico in 2017, Ernesto Diaz formed a team to survey what the Category […]
Read more »Insurers Are Deserting Homeowners as Climate Shocks Worsen
January 6th, 2025
Via the New York Times, a report on how climate shocks are impacting home ownership as – without insurance, it’s impossible to get a mortgage; without a mortgage, most Americans can’t buy a home: The insurance crisis spreading across the United States arrived at Richard D. Zimmel’s door last week in the form of a […]
Read more »How 1.4B Indians Are Adapting To Climate Change
January 6th, 2025
Via The Economist, a look at how Indians are adapting to climate change: The flood waters were rising and Sukanya Ashin realised she had to get out of her house. Her husband tried to open the back door, but it was blocked by shifting mud. So they wrapped their two-year-old in a blanket and waded through […]
Read more »Is America Just Going to Abandon Its Towns Falling Into the Ocean?
January 5th, 2025
Via the New York Times, commentary on growing risk of rising sea levels: In the 1930s, a terrible drought plunged farming communities across the United States into catastrophe. As millions of Americans abandoned their homes, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created something remarkable: the Resettlement Administration, which sought to move entire communities to newly built towns […]
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.