Quantifying The Human Cost of Global Warming
June 19th, 2023
One in five people could live in dangerously hot conditions by the end of the century if global warming continues at its current pace, even if nations uphold their pledges under the Paris Agreement, scientists warned in a new peer-reviewed study. It’s the latest research published in recent days that points to the stark human […]
Read more »New York’s Skyscrapers Are Causing It To Sink – What Can Be Done about It?
June 19th, 2023
Via BBC, a look at how the ground under New York City is sinking partly due to the sheer mass of all its buildings – and it isn’t the only coastal city to be suffering this fate. As sea levels also rise to meet these concrete jungles, can they be saved? On 27 September 1889, […]
Read more »Climate Disasters Make It Harder To Insure Your Home
June 19th, 2023
Courtesy of The Washington Post, an article on how insurance premiums are soaring and carriers are pulling back coverage, citing disaster risks: Homeowners are bracing for hurricane and fire seasons, but with insurance premiums rising and carriers pulling back coverage in riskier states, more and more residents don’t know whether they can afford to insure […]
Read more »How to Buy a Home That Won’t Flood
June 19th, 2023
Courtesy of Barron’s, a report on risk of floods to real estate: Buying a home that will stay high and dry is harder than it used to be. Flooding has long been a worry near rivers and coasts, but costly inundations are happening in areas far from traditional flood zones as climate changes and development […]
Read more »North Carolina Beach Houses Have Fallen Into The Ocean. Is There A Fix?
June 19th, 2023
Courtesy of The Washington Post, an article on new studies that show that both beach nourishments and buyouts in Rodanthe, N.C., would be costly, but no funding for any fix is in sight: It’s been a rough stretch for Rodanthe, N.C., a scenic sliver of the Outer Banks where houses are crumbling into the ocean, […]
Read more »Five Ways Finance Is Trying to De-Risk Heat Waves
June 19th, 2023
Courtesy of Bloomberg, an article on how – from heatstroke insurance for humans to policies that reimburse farmers for lower milk output – more financial products are addressing climate change: Climate change-driven heat waves are impacting everything from nuclear reactors in France to glaciers in Pakistan. As millions of people around the world are forced to cope with more […]
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.