How to Cool Buildings with Paint
September 9th, 2026
Courtesy of The Economist, a report on new paints which promise to get rid of heat without using energy London buses have a cool secret. Viewed from above, they are often white, not red. This heat-reduction measure, which began in 2004 with the intention of making journeys more comfortable for passengers—particularly on the top deck—was […]
Read more »Urban Heat’s Overlooked Fix: Greening the Land Upwind of Cities
September 1st, 2026
Via Anthropocene Magazine, a look at a recent study published in Nature Cities which suggests that forests placed strategically outside urban cores can lower temperatures across much of a city: Strategically placed greenbelts in the suburbs could cool some of the world’s biggest cities by almost half a degree across at least half their area, […]
Read more »Excessive Air Conditioning Use May Cause Cities to Heat Up — and Passive Cooling Techniques Could Be the Future
August 20th, 2026
Via Discover, a report on new research that reveals how passive cooling techniques are going to be increasingly important to reduce energy use and cool urban areas. Learn more about them. In a burning hot city in the middle of the summer, when you can practically see the heat rising off the asphalt roads, an […]
Read more »How An Atlanta Ordinance Could Help the City Cool Off
August 13th, 2026
Via Yale Climate Connections, a brief on a new Atlanta ordinance that requires new construction and major renovations to use reflective roofs that can cool neighborhoods by as much as six degrees: Summers in Atlanta are hot – and getting hotter as the climate warms. To stay safe in the heat, residents often spend a […]
Read more »Cooling Murals to Reduce Surface Temperature
July 13th, 2026
Now this is a cool project! Students and volunteers from the Yale and New Haven communities recently painted a “cooling mural” on the basketball court at Kimberly Field in the city’s Hill neighborhood. Using a highly reflective paint, the mural reduces surface temperatures and offers some relief on steamy summer days. Enjoy the aerial footage! Led […]
Read more »No Shade, but Cities Aren’t Planting Enough Trees
June 7th, 2026
Via Grist, a look at how the solution to urban heat could be much, much simpler than many people think: Johnny Appleseed was ahead of his time. Not because he fed so many people by planting apple trees (really, he got them drunk instead, as his real goal was encouraging the production of cider), but because […]
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.