Los Angeles Just Proved How Spongy a City Can Be
February 20th, 2024
Via Wired, a look at how – as relentless rains pounded LA – the city’s “sponge” infrastructure helped gather 8.6 billion gallons of water—enough to sustain over 100,000 households for a year: Earlier this month, the future fell on Los Angeles. A long band of moisture in the sky, known as an atmospheric river, dumped 9 […]
Read more »The Unloved L.A. River Just Prevented A Flood Disaster. Can More Of Its Water Be Saved?
February 14th, 2024
Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, a look at the Los Angeles River and possibilities for more stormwater capture: As intense atmospheric rivers become more common in a warming world, so too do questions about stormwater capture in Los Angeles. Each year, when rain pours down and the L.A. River roars back to life, Angelenos want […]
Read more »Los Angeles Is Probably Too Good at Preventing Big Floods
February 9th, 2024
Via HeatMap, a look at how recent torrential rains in California may not do a lot for the state’s water security given existing flood control infrastructure built years ago: For the past few days, Southern Californians have found themselves living with a kind of weather one doesn’t typically associate with the region: rain. Days of […]
Read more »Coastal Cities Brace for Climate Change
February 4th, 2024
Courtesy of The New York Times, a report on how coastal cities are bracing for climate change: Over the past few weeks, flooding from storms has battered cities in the South and the East Coast, from Louisiana to New Jersey. Overlapping atmospheric rivers over the West Coast have brought heavy rains that are likely to come back in the next […]
Read more »From Dhaka to Melbourne, Asia-Pacific Eyes local Climate Solutions
December 16th, 2023
Via Nikkei Asia, a look at how mayors of Asian cities are looking towards local climate solutions to deal with rising temperatures and climate change: Climate change is always close to the mind of Mohammad Atiqul Islam, a local mayor in Bangladesh’s chaotic capital Dhaka. The politician sees thousands flock daily to his city to […]
Read more »Rain Gardens On The Rise In Cities…For Good Reason
December 11th, 2023
Via The Washington Post, a report on cities’ growing use of green infrastructure: When a heavy rainstorm hits D.C., it’s bad news for the city’s rivers. The city’s sewer system, which combines storm runoff and raw sewage in some areas, has a history of overflowing. Instead of flowing into a treatment plant, that toxic mix, along […]
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.