3 Cities: To Build or Not To Build In Risky Places
December 10th, 2023
Via NPR, an article on 3 cities facing a climate dilemma: to build or not to build homes in risky places. With climate-fueled disasters killing hundreds of Americans annually and costing communities billions of dollars, a growing number of local governments are asking a basic question: Are there some places where people shouldn’t build homes? […]
Read more »China’s Adaptation Advantage
October 23rd, 2023
Courtesy of The Wire, a look at China’s head-start in mobilizing to adapt and thrive in a rapidly warming world. If it succeeds, the geopolitical consequences will be profound; Illustration by Sam Ward. On an August day last year, Xi Jinping visited Saihanba National Forest Park to inspect the trees and flowers. Spanning nearly 200,000 acres northwest […]
Read more »Welcome To The Pyrocene Era
September 1st, 2023
Via ClimateBase, a look at how human-influenced fire activity is shaping our world and six companies working to combat wildfire by leveraging everything from Machine Learning and AI to advanced imaging and fire-fighting tech: The world is on fire. With thousands of wildfires burning across the globe, many have begun to speculate that we are entering a Pyrocene […]
Read more »Fighting Fire with 5G
July 17th, 2023
T-Mobile has decided to back Pano AI to detect wildfires using its 5G network. San Francisco-based Pano AI has built a wildfire detection device that uses cameras, satellite feeds and artificial intelligence to pinpoint where new wildfires are starting and alert firefighters and other first responders. T-Mobilepartnered with the climate tech startup last September to use […]
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 »The Quest To Build Wildfire-Resistant Homes
June 19th, 2023
Via MIT Technology Review, an article on how – with climate change making more communities vulnerable to fire across the world – adaptation may require more social change than materials engineering: The first sparks that ignited in the Montecito hills above Santa Barbara, California, on November 13, 2008, were stoked by ferocious sundowner winds gusting […]
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.