The Architect Making Friends With Flooding
January 2nd, 2024 Via MIT’s Technology Review, a report on one Chinese landscape designer who has pioneered a new approach—working with water instead of trying to bend it to our will: For years, Beijing [...]
Embracing a Wetter Future, the Dutch Turn to Floating Homes
December 29th, 2023 Via Yale e360, an article on how – faced with worsening floods and a shortage of housing – the Netherlands is seeing growing interest in floating homes: When a heavy storm hit in October, [...]
After a Decade of Planning, New York City Is Raising Its Shoreline
December 29th, 2023 Courtesy of Yale e360, a look at how – inspired by the Dutch model of living with water – New York’s coastal defenses are on the rise via a combination of infrastructure like floodwalls [...]
Closing In on Zero-Carbon Cement
December 29th, 2023 Via Volts, an interesting podcast on the effort to develop carbon-free cement: Of all the so-called “difficult to decarbonize” sectors, cement is among the most vexing. Making cement produces CO2 [...]
Historic Cooling Techniques
December 29th, 2023 Via The Washington Post, a report on historic cooling techniques used around the world: From the mosque in this dusty desert village, you can see the wide terraces and austere columns of one of [...]
Geothermal Heat Pumps
December 29th, 2023 Courtesy of ImpactAlpha, a look at geothermal heat pumps: The Inflation Reduction Act offers HVAC owners tax credits up to half the cost to install geothermal heat pumps, also known as ground-source [...]

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.