The White Roofs Cooling Women’s Homes in Indian Slums
July 22nd, 2023
Courtesy of BBC’s Future Planet, a report on the white roofs cooling women’s homes in Indian slums: The roof in Pinky’s home in western India glistens in the bright sunlight. Covered in white solar reflective paint, it helps to limit the oppressive heat – which can reach 47.8C (118F) in June – from infiltrating her […]
Read more »Hot Cities Are Experimenting with Ways to Keep Cool
July 22nd, 2023
Via The Economist, a look at the sizzling US sunbelt and how – to stay liveable – hot cities are experimenting with ways to keep cool Amy Schwabenlender has a front-row seat to suffering. From the windows of her office in downtown Phoenix, she can see rows and rows of tents. Their inhabitants keep inside, […]
Read more »How Texas is Racing to Thwart the Heat
July 22nd, 2023
Via BBC Future Planet, a look at how Texas is racing to thwart the heat: This summer, Texans have endured scorching temperatures as hot as 48C (119F), making the state one of the hottest places on Earth. The state is trapped under a “heat dome”, a phenomenon that happens when high pressure traps dry, hot air over an area, […]
Read more »Green Parking Lots: Mitigating Climate Change and the Urban Heat Island
July 22nd, 2023
Via Penn State, a look at how designing green parking lots with large canopy trees can reduce urban heat loads, air and water pollution, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on our communities: It appears over the past three to four decades, parking lots have been one of the fastest growing land uses, […]
Read more »Beyond the Yuck Factor: Cities Turn to ‘Extreme’ Water Recycling
July 22nd, 2023
Via Yale e360, a report on how San Francisco is at the forefront of a movement to recycle wastewater from commercial buildings, homes, and neighborhoods and use it for toilets and landscaping. This decentralized approach, proponents say, will drive down demand in an era of increasing water scarcity. In downtown San Francisco, in a cavernous […]
Read more »Dangerous Discomfort: Extreme Heat Is Deadlier Than Hurricanes, Floods and Tornadoes Combined
July 21st, 2023
Courtesy of Scientific American, an article on how – when dangerous heat waves hit cities – better risk communication could save lives: On June 25, 2022, Esteban Chavez, Jr., started his day like any other, working his route in Pasadena, Calif., as a driver for UPS. But the city was in the middle of an intense […]
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.