Urban Forests: Planting The Wrong Trees In the Wrong Places Can Diminish Cooling Benefits
January 8th, 2025 Via Anthropocene Magazine, commentary on the first comprehensive global study of the effect of trees on urban temperature, in which researchers discovered that in hot, compact cities, narrow species [...]
The Business Case For Saving Coral Reefs
January 6th, 2025 Via Grist, an interesting look at a growing body of research shows the nation’s coral reefs protect $1.8 billion in economic assets each year and should be protected for our sake and their own: [...]
Insurers Are Deserting Homeowners as Climate Shocks Worsen
January 6th, 2025 Via the New York Times, a report on how climate shocks are impacting home ownership as – without insurance, it’s impossible to get a mortgage; without a mortgage, most Americans can’t buy a [...]
How 1.4B Indians Are Adapting To Climate Change
January 6th, 2025 Via The Economist, a look at how Indians are adapting to climate change: The flood waters were rising and Sukanya Ashin realised she had to get out of her house. Her husband tried to open the back [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]

ABOUT
BLACK SWANS GREEN SHOOTS
Black Swans / Green Shoots examines the collision between urbanization and resource scarcity in a world affected by climate change, identifying opportunities to build sustainable cities and resilient infrastructure through the use of revolutionary capital, increased awareness, innovative technologies, and smart design to make a difference in the face of global and local climate perils.

'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.