Is America Just Going to Abandon Its Towns Falling Into the Ocean?
January 5th, 2025
Via the New York Times, commentary on growing risk of rising sea levels: In the 1930s, a terrible drought plunged farming communities across the United States into catastrophe. As millions of Americans abandoned their homes, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created something remarkable: the Resettlement Administration, which sought to move entire communities to newly built towns […]
Read more »To Combat Phoenix’s Extreme Heat, a New Program Provides Sustainable Shade
January 5th, 2025
Via Inside Climate News, a report on Arizona State University’s efforts to create neighborhood shade plans for Phoenix communities and train the workforce needed to support green infrastructure across the metropolitan area: After the hottest summer on record in the nation’s hottest major city, residents, nonprofits, academics and community leaders are planning for the heatwaves to come. […]
Read more »The Sunbelt’s Growing Population Faces Increasing Climate Hazards
December 22nd, 2024
Via Inside Climate News, a report on new research identifying the counties in the U.S. with large and vulnerable populations exposed to heat stress, water shortages or wildfire, with most found in the southern half of the country: Counties across the southern half of the U.S., especially those with large and socially vulnerable populations, will […]
Read more »Why These Doctors Started Writing Medical ‘Prescriptions’ for Solar Power
December 18th, 2024
Via NPR.org, a look at an innovative new program called the Clean Power Prescription program that aims to help those in need keep the lights on: Anna Goldman, a primary care physician at Boston Medical Center, got tired of hearing that her patients couldn’t afford the electricity needed to run breathing assistance machines, recharge wheelchairs, […]
Read more »The UK Is Losing the Race Against Devastating Floods
December 13th, 2024
Via Bloomberg, a look at how a first-of-its-kind insurance program bought some in the UK time to shore up flood defenses, but exclusive data shows that isn’t happening quickly enough: About 900 years ago, Medieval monks began resurrecting an expanse of land in southwest England that languished underwater for half the year. Stone by stone, […]
Read more »Copenhagen’s Biggest Climate Threat: Water
December 6th, 2024
Via Terra Daily, a look at how Copenhagen takes on its biggest climate threat — water: In low-lying Copenhagen where rising sea levels, groundwater and rainfall pose a risk to infrastructure, the Danish capital is trying to adapt and protect urban areas from climate change.And Karens Minde park is one of the more than 300 projects […]
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.