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 »A Climate Change Success Story? Look at Hoboken.
November 5th, 2023
Via The New York Times, a look at how this flood-prone city on the Hudson River has bundled water-absorbing infrastructure into benefits residents asked for, like parks and safer streets: The city of Hoboken, N.J., once a marshy outcropping that the Lenape inhabited only seasonally, hugs the Hudson River. Three-quarters of it occupies a flood […]
Read more »As Stormwater and Flood Threats Change, Texas Cities Are Using Green Infrastructure To Adapt
October 25th, 2023
Via Texas Water Resource Institute, a look at how – as stormwater and flood threats change -Texas cities are using green infrastructure to adapt: How many storm drains does one residential street need? How much water can a vegetated buffer strip hold? How will new construction and increased impervious surfaces affect stormwater flow into an […]
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 »Come Hell or High Water: Building Community Resilience to Floods, Droughts and Water Contamination
October 11th, 2023
Courtesy of ImpactAlpha, a look at building community resilience to floods, droughts and water contamination: Water — too little, too much or too dirty — isn’t simply emerging as a climate consideration. It’s forcing its way into the conversation. Water professionals say it’s high time. “This is water’s moment,” Radhika Fox, the Environmental Protection Agency’s […]
Read more »New York’s Bluebelt Program
September 30th, 2023
As New York City experiences intense rainfall, it is instructive to look at Staten Island and one of the really successful measures that has been accomplished: the blue belt network. It’s a really great solution for handling intense rainfall and filtering water and water quality and biodiversity. But it’s not the kind of thing that […]
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.