China: Making Cities ‘Spongy’ Could Help Fight Flooding
October 5th, 2023
Courtesy of NPR, a report on China’s ‘sponge city’ effort: In the shade of a willow tree, Li Tao and his buddy dabble lines in a slow-moving river channel and occasionally pull out a tiny fish. “It’s good to have a place like this for people to relax,” says Li, his shirt off in the […]
Read more »Worried About Living In A Flood Zone? Try A House That Floats.
September 30th, 2023
Courtesy of The New York Times, a look at how coastal cities threatened with rising tides and bigger storms could use not just the waterfront, but also the water, as places to build housing: As sea levels rise and storms worsen, threatening the planet’s fragile coastlines, some architects and developers are looking to the water […]
Read more »Why New York and Other Cities Still Aren’t Prepared For Floods
September 30th, 2023
Via The Verge, commentary on why cities shouldn’t be caught off guard but often are with floods: New York City came to a grinding halt Friday as floods shut down roads and subways and inundated schools in one of the biggest storm-related emergencies since the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit in 2021. It isn’t a problem that’s unique to […]
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 »New York Needs to Get Spongier—or Get Used to More Floods
September 29th, 2023
Via Wired, a report on how devastating deluges around the world point to the metropolis of tomorrow: the “sponge city.” Think more parks and fewer parking lots. TWO YEARS AFTER the remnants of Hurricane Ian dumped up to 10 inches of rain on New York City in just two hours, the metropolis is once again inundated today by extreme […]
Read more »Which Cities Will Still Be Livable In A World Altered By Climate Change?
September 22nd, 2023
Courtesy of National Geographic, an article on how northern U.S. communities may not be completely immune to a warming world, but they are well-placed to meet the needs of an influx of climate migrants: Before September 2017, Dianiz Roman and Wilfredo Gonzalez had never given a moment’s thought to leaving Aguadilla, the couple’s hometown in […]
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.