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 »As We Build harder, Hotter Cities: It’s Vital To Protect and Grow Urban Green Spaces
June 19th, 2023
Via The Conversation, an article on the importance of urban green spaces: Recent extreme weather events have provided a foretaste of how supercharged storms might threaten our future. So the release today of a new report from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) is very good timing. Titled “Are we building harder, hotter cities? The vital […]
Read more »Air Conditioning Can’t Stop Climate Migration
June 19th, 2023
Via Bloomberg, commentary on how humans are being pushed out of our temperature comfort zone. It’s a good time to be in the air-conditioning business. As my colleagues at Bloomberg News write, an additional 1 billion cooling units are expected to be installed by the end of the decade. It’s one of the main ways in which […]
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.