Europe’s Cities Should Prepare for Hotter, More Hazardous Days Ahead
November 27th, 2024
Via WRI, commentary on how European cities should prepare for hotter days ahead: Europe is the world’s fastest warming continent, which is severely impacting cities and leading to tens of thousands of deaths, rising hospitalizations, school closures and people adjusting their lives to avoid inhospitable outdoor conditions. The oppressive heat is being felt across the continent from […]
Read more »To Cope with Extreme Heat, Paris Will Swap Parking Spaces for Trees
November 19th, 2024
Via Yale e360, a report on Paris’s plan to swap parking spaces for trees: Paris aims to replace 60,000 parking spaces across the city with trees by the end of this decade, according to its newly released climate plan. The plan, which must still be approved by the Council of Paris, lays out steps to help […]
Read more »How Urban Planners Can Use Trees To Cool Entire Cities
November 5th, 2024
Via Terra Daily, a look at how urban planners can use trees to cool entire cities: Cities worldwide face rising temperatures, with urban areas particularly vulnerable due to heat absorption by concrete and asphalt. Tree-planting programs are a popular strategy to counteract urban heat, yet these initiatives often rely on estimates rather than precise science. […]
Read more »People Rebuilding Their Homes With Earth
October 25th, 2024
Via BBC, a report on efforts by some homeowners to prepare for/avoid wildfire damage: Melanie Glover rebuilt her home in Superior, Colorado, using earth bricks (Credit: Nick Aspinwall) These people are rebuilding homes lost to wildfires in the western US – only this time they are using a material that they hope won’t burn. Melanie […]
Read more »Bangkok Turns To Urban Forests To Beat Worsening Floods
October 20th, 2024
Via Mongabay, a report on Bangkok’s use of urban forests to address flooding: Bangkok is launching city forests to help beat flooding by soaking up excess rainwater runoff. A new park slated to open in December will feature 4,500 trees, a floodplain and a weir to slow the flow of water; another newly opened $20 […]
Read more »DARPA Thinks Walls of Oysters Could Protect Shores Against Hurricanes
October 11th, 2024
Via Wired, a report on how the US defense research agency is funding three universities to engineer reef structures that will be colonized by corals and bivalves and absorb the power of future storms: On October 10, 2018, Tyndall Air Force Base on the Gulf of Mexico, a pillar of American air superiority, found itself under […]
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.