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 »The Plan to Save New York From the Next Sandy Will Ruin the Waterfront. It Doesn’t Have To.
June 20th, 2023
Via The New York Times, commentary on the plan to save New York from the next Sandy: Last September, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unveiled its proposal to protect the greater New York and New Jersey metro area from the next catastrophic flood. It is an epic plan that includes dozens of miles of floodwalls, levees and […]
Read more »How Cities Are Trying To Stop Their Land From Sinking
June 20th, 2023
Courtesy of The Washington Post, a look at how some cities are putting water back into the ground, a process called managed aquifer recharge, to stabilize land subsidence: Groundwater has historically been a lifeline in California’s Coachella Valley. Water for farming, for your home and community? It came from under your feet, but the extractions […]
Read more »Slowing Water for Greener Neighborhoods
June 20th, 2023
Via Illuminem, a report on the potential benefits of resilient and absorptive infrastructure: Climate Change has brought fiercer storms with devastating floods and long-lasting droughts that stressed and killed plants and animals. Once we controlled water. These days, water is in control and is harming us. What if we changed our relationship with water to […]
Read more »Rising Sea Levels Will Isolate People Long Before They’re Underwater
June 20th, 2023
Via Hakai Magazine, a look at how rising sea levels will isolate people long before they’re underwater: The Chignecto Isthmus—the low marshy strip connecting New Brunswick and Nova Scotia—may be one of the most vulnerable places in Canada to sea level rise. At just 21 kilometers wide, the interprovincial land bridge is battered on its […]
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 »'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.