Paris’s New Weapons in Climate Fight: Metro Turnstiles and the Seine
Courtesy of Bloomberg, a report on Paris’s innovative approaches to tackle climate change: When it comes to fighting climate change, every bit counts. At least, that was the thinking behind a [...]
Seattle To Add Electric Buses That Use Wireless Charging
Via Smart Cities Dive, a report on Seattle’s deployment of in-ground inductive chargers to power double-decker buses along a new Sound Transit bus rapid transit route: Dive Brief: Seattle will [...]
Los Angeles Just Proved How Spongy a City Can Be
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 [...]
U.S. Just Bet Even Bigger on American-Made Heat Pumps
Via Wired, an article on the U.S. government’s most recent support of American-made heat pumps: The US Department of Energy is announcing another $63 million to supercharge domestic [...]
Underwater: Exploring the Map of the World in 2100
Courtesy of Hasan Jasim, an interesting set of maps that anticipates – and graphically shows – the impact of sea level rise in decades ahead: Alright, not of the entire world, but a large [...]
The Unloved L.A. River Just Prevented A Flood Disaster. Can More Of Its Water Be Saved?
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 [...]

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.