Climate Havens: Can Some Cities Provide A Refuge From Extreme Weather?
July 1st, 2024
Via BBC, a report on whether those cities which are advertising themselves as ‘climate havens’ actually protect residents from extreme weather: Over the past few years, the city of Buffalo, New York, has been all over the headlines. But instead of US media focusing only on the city’s occasional epic snowstorm, Buffalo is making news […]
Read more »Rising Sea Levels Will Disrupt Millions of Americans’ Lives by 2050
June 26th, 2024
Via The Guardian, an article on how floods could leave coastal communities in states like Florida and California unlivable in two decades: Sea level rise driven by global heating will disrupt the daily life of millions of Americans, as hundreds of homes, schools and government buildings face frequent and repeated flooding by 2050, a new study has found. Almost 1,100 […]
Read more »Three Ideas to Beat the Heat, and the People Who Made Them Happen
June 26th, 2024
Via the New York Times, a look at how – as temperatures soar around the world – practical experiments are emerging to protect people: An app that helps people find relief from the heat. A tiny insurance policy that pays working women when temperatures soar. Local laws that help outdoor workers get water and shade […]
Read more »Dubai to Boost Rainwater Drainage System with $8.2B Project
June 26th, 2024
Via Reuters, a report on Dubai’s plans to boost its rainwater drainage system with $8.2 billion project: Dubai will spend 30 billion dirhams ($8.2 billion) to boost its rainwater drainage system after the Gulf city was hit by the heaviest downpours recorded in the UAE in 75 years in April. Dubai, widely considered the Gulf’s tourism and […]
Read more »The “Venice of Africa” Is Sinking Into The Sea
June 25th, 2024
Via The Economist, a look at how many of Africa’s megacities are being swamped by rising oceans: It may not look like much anymore, but in its heyday La Chaumière was the “premier nightclub in all Saint Louis”, recalls Cheikh Badiane. When the ocean tide was low, the long beach extending far into the distance […]
Read more »Could the Global Boom in Greenhouses Help Cool the Planet?
June 20th, 2024
Via Yale e360, a look at how – as agricultural greenhouses proliferate – researchers are finding that their reflective roofs are having a cooling effect. Some experts see this as an unintended experiment with lessons for cooling cities, but others point to the environmental damage that greenhouses can cause: The world is awash with greenhouses […]
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.