Plants vs. Pipes: How Asia’s 5,000-Year-Old Rice Terraces Are Inspiring Modern Flood Control
August 6th, 2024
Via BBC, a look at how Asia’s 5,000-year-old rice terraces are inspiring modern flood control: Landprocess The green roof of Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand is designed to protect from flooding, cool temperatures and grow crops (Credit: Landprocess) Parks, roofs and riverbanks mimicking the long-used agricultural form are helping Asian cities absorb, hold and purify […]
Read more »Your Future Air Conditioner Might Act Like A Battery
August 6th, 2024
Courtesy of MIT Technology Review, a report on new technologies that store cooling power for when it’s needed most: As temperatures climb on hot days, many of us are quick to crank up our fans or air conditioners. These cooling systems can be a major stress on electrical grids, which has inspired some inventors to […]
Read more »Can Chief Heat Officers Protect U.S. Cities From Extreme Heat?
August 6th, 2024
Courtesy of Grist, a report on chief heat officers: appointed officials who have the life-saving solutions the public needs to stay safe from rising temperatures. But they don’t have political power. Summertime heat in the United States has always put human health at risk. But the past few years have marked a departure from the […]
Read more »How Four Cities Are Cooling Down Creatively
August 2nd, 2024
Via Reasons To Be Cheerful, a look at how cities around the world are trying everything from reflective paint to underground water channels to manage the hotter days ahead: In the middle of a summer of record-breaking heat, just stepping outside is enough to remind us that the world is experiencing rising temperatures due to […]
Read more »As London Swelters, Adaptation To Heat Extremes Is ‘Urgent’
August 1st, 2024
Via Climate Resilience for All, commentary on the need for adaptation to heat extremes in urban cities such as London: In July 2022, London experienced a temperature shock: two days of unprecedented 40 degree Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) heat that buckled rail lines, put pressure on hospitals and the ambulances, overwhelmed air conditioning systems and […]
Read more »NYC Bets Big On Porous Pavement With $32M Flood-Control Project
July 20th, 2024
Via Smart Cities Dive, a look at New York City’s first large-scale implementation of the approach after years of testing different porous pavement products: Dive Brief: New York City hopes to ease flooding with its first large-scale implementation of porous pavement, allowing stormwater to drain into the ground rather than overwhelm the city’s sewer system. Seven miles of road in Brooklyn will be […]
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.