Archive for April, 2026

Water Conservation Works, but Climate Change is Outpacing It: Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas offer a Glimpse of the Future
April 9th, 2026

Via The Conversation, a look at what happens when climate change outpaces water conservation efforts and what cities can do next: When a drought turns into an urban water crisis, a city’s first step is often to limit lawn watering and launch a campaign to encourage everyone to conserve. It might raise water-use rates or […]

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Posted in Drought | Comments Off on Water Conservation Works, but Climate Change is Outpacing It: Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas offer a Glimpse of the Future

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Tennis Courts Serve Up An Unexpected Climate Solution
April 1st, 2026

Via Anthropocene Magazine, a look at how researchers have found that green clay tennis courts are able to absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide via enhanced rock weathering: It’s probably not what most tennis players are thinking about as they focus on the ball whizzing over the net towards them, but the court they are […]

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Posted in Green Design | Comments Off on Tennis Courts Serve Up An Unexpected Climate Solution

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.

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