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 »Pressed for Space, Solar Farms Are Getting Creative
March 6th, 2024
Courtesy of Bloomberg, a report on how – from retired landfills to decommissioned golf courses and murals on the sides of buildings – solar installations are proliferating in unexpected places: Solar power is expected to dominate global electricity markets in the next few decades, and already accounts for three-quarters of renewable energy capacity, according to the International […]
Read more »In Rural California, A Plan for Shade
March 5th, 2024
Courtesy of The Washington Post, an article on a rural California region’s plan to provide shade from dangerous heat: When Limba Contreras moved to the desert community of Oasis, California, about 50 years ago, her family relied on a water cooler to keep temperatures inside their home comfortable. Other times, they sprayed each other with […]
Read more »US Cities Could Be Capturing Billions of Gallons of Rain a Day
March 2nd, 2024
Via Wired, a report on how – with better infrastructure and “spongy” green spaces – U.S. urban areas have made progress but should be soaking up way more free stormwater: YOUR CITY IS a scab on the landscape: sidewalks, roads, parking lots, rooftops—the built environment repels water into sewers and then into the environment. Urban planners have been […]
Read more »What Will It Take to Save Our Cities from a Scorching Future?
March 1st, 2024
Via Yale e360, an interview with Eleni Myrivili, the UN’s first-ever global chief heat officer based on her record as a city official in Athens, discussing why extreme heat is a health crisis and what cities must do to protect the most vulnerable from rising temperatures: In 2022, a year in which 70,000 Europeans died […]
Read more »South African City Copes With Climate Change by Chopping Down Trees
March 1st, 2024
Courtesy of The Washington Post, an interesting look at one city’s controversial approach to urban greenery as it responds to climate change: Climate change is already taking a severe toll on Cape Town, contributing to worsening droughts that threaten to leave the city’s taps dry. In response, conservationists here are frantically chopping down trees — […]
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.