How Are Cities Responding To Extreme Heat?
June 24th, 2023
Via Al Jazeera, a video look at how cities around the world are responding to extreme heat: Scorching temperatures and record breaking heat have already grabbed headlines this year as increasingly severe heat waves continue to be a recurring feature of life in many parts of the world. School hours have been cut short in the […]
Read more »Cleveland’s Tree Canopy Is in Trouble
June 24th, 2023
Via Inside Climate News, an article on new efforts to bring more trees back to Forest City to address both climate resilience and environmental justice: Cleveland, Ohio has long been called the Forest City, although sources differ on whom to credit for the moniker. Back in 1831, French traveler Alexis de Tocqueville described Lake Erie’s […]
Read more »Frigid US City Becomes Haven In Climate Change Era
June 24th, 2023
Via Terra Daily, a look at one U.S. city that may become a haven in the climate change era: Standing on the frigid coast of Lake Superior, thawing ice glistening in the northern Minnesota sun, Christina Welch recalls what made her trade the temperate vineyards of northern California for the notoriously chilly city of Duluth.In 2017, […]
Read more »Young Engineers Lay The Foundation For A New Generation of Sustainable Cooling In India
June 24th, 2023
Via Energy Monitor, a report on how young engineers in India are designing a cool world resilient to deadly heatwaves: In the scorching heat in a town near Delhi, Jyoti Pandey rode her scooter packed with takeaway meals. Halfway through her day delivering food to customers, she collapsed from heat exhaustion in the 46°C (114°F) […]
Read more »Can Cities Eliminate Heat-Related Deaths? Phoenix Is Trying.
June 20th, 2023
Via NextCity, a look at how Phoenix hopes a new Office of Heat Response can move fast enough to counter the impacts of deadly heat: Regional Carrillo could walk to his last job in five minutes. In most places, it would be a pleasant commute. But in Phoenix, where summer days routinely top 110 degrees Fahrenheit […]
Read more »Heat Insurance Offers Climate Change Lifeline To Poor Workers
June 20th, 2023
Via Reuters, an article on some innovative insurance schemes launched for heat, cyclones, and drought: A bright sun beat down on the sprawling Indian market where Kamlaben Ashokbhai Patni sat worrying about the brass jewellery on display in her wooden stall. When the heat rises, the metal blackens. Plastic pearls become unglued. “The colour of […]
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.