New Plan To Protect California’s Coast Against A Rising Ocean: Tidal Wetlands
August 16th, 2024
Via The Mercury News, a look at a new oceanfront wetland on California’s farmland to help reduce the risk of flooding during storms Recent raging winter storms have caved in streets, wrecked piers, collapsed homes and apartment buildings, and submerged property up and down California’s coastline. Now, as sea levels continue to rise from climate […]
Read more »Faced With Heavier Rains, Cities Scramble to Control Polluted Runoff
August 16th, 2024
Via Yale’s e360, a look at how – to manage contaminated stormwater – Philadelphia went all in on “green” infrastructure, like rain gardens and permeable pavement. But an increase in extreme rain events is spurring other U.S. cities to double down on traditional sewer upgrades that can handle the overflow. In 2011, Philadelphia’s city-owned water […]
Read more »Head Above the Water: Today’s Blueprints for Building Tomorrow’s Floating Cities
August 15th, 2024
Via Architizer, an article on structural and environmental techniques that prove floating structures are a real possibility in our world of rising sea levels, and not just a vision from a sci-fi future: With an estimated 2.5 billion people living within 62 miles (100 kilometers) of a coastline, rising sea levels pose a significant risk […]
Read more »Turning Cities Into ‘Sponges’ Could Help Fight Flooding
August 14th, 2024
Via CNN.com, a report on the growing ‘sponge city’ movement: Most architects look to control nature; Kongjian Yu wants it to take over. Intense storms are on the rise and cities across the world are finding it difficult to cope with deluges of floodwater. But instead of using high-tech, concrete-based engineering solutions to defend against […]
Read more »California: Home To Millions of Urban Trees That Can Be Repurposed When They Die
August 13th, 2024
Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, a report on the reuse of dead urban trees: To stop California’s 6 million urban trees from knocking out power lines, crashing through houses, or lying across streets when they die, humans have to intervene. This week, a handful of arborists and Conservation Corps of Long Beach members gathered at a scrappy plot […]
Read more »Solar Panels Over Highways Could Significantly Cut Emissions and Boost Road Safety
August 12th, 2024
Via Energy Daily, a report on how solar panels over highways could significantly cut emissions and boost road safety Covering highways worldwide with solar panel roofs could greatly reduce carbon emissions and improve road safety, according to new research. This study, which assessed the costs and benefits of installing solar roofs over global highways, suggests […]
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.