Climate Change Can Cause Bridges to ‘Fall Apart Like Tinkertoys,’ Experts Say
September 5th, 2024 Courtesy of the New York Times, a look at how extreme heat and flooding are accelerating the deterioration of bridges, engineers say, posing a quiet but growing threat: On a 95-degree day this [...]
Cold Reality: New Technology Can Make Air Conditioning Less Harmful To The Planet
September 5th, 2024 Via The Economist, a look at innovations in cooling technology that can help reduce the negative impact A/C has on the environment: In many parts of the world, the cool blast of an air-conditioner [...]
The World’s Fastest Sinking Coastal Cities
September 4th, 2024 Via Planet Anomaly, a graphical look at the world’s coastal cities facing a silent crisis—land subsidence that outpaces sea-level rise. A staggering 44 out of the 48 largest coastal cities [...]
Lagos Turns To Waterways For Green Transport Solution
September 2nd, 2024 Via Terra Daily, a look at Lagos’s use of waterways as a green transport solution: Nigerian saleswoman Ivy Junaid says her daily half-an-hour commute from mainland Lagos to the city’s [...]
Rising Waters, Floating Hot Dog Stands: How Urban Climate-Adaptation May Unfold
September 2nd, 2024 Courtesy of The Washington Post, a graphical look at how cities of the future can withstand a warming planet: How can cities of the future withstand a warming planet? Kristina Hill, an associate [...]
Silicon Valley Wants to Fight Fires With Fire
August 31st, 2024 Via the New York Times, a look at how some high-tech entrepreneurs are trying to use new forms of technology to solve the problem of mega-wildfires in the age of climate change: This is the tinder [...]

ABOUT
BLACK SWANS GREEN SHOOTS
Black Swans / Green Shoots examines the collision between urbanization and resource scarcity in a world affected by climate change, identifying opportunities to build sustainable cities and resilient infrastructure through the use of revolutionary capital, increased awareness, innovative technologies, and smart design to make a difference in the face of global and local climate perils.

'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.