Head Above the Water: Today’s Blueprints for Building Tomorrow’s Floating Cities
August 15th, 2024
Via Architizer, an article on structural and environmental techniques that prove floating structures are a real possibility in our world of rising sea levels, and not just a vision from a sci-fi future: With an estimated 2.5 billion people living within 62 miles (100 kilometers) of a coastline, rising sea levels pose a significant risk […]
Read more »The Safest Places in the U.S. from Extreme Weather
July 20th, 2024
Via Medium, commentary on some of the safest places in the U.S. from extreme weather: Screenshot of U.S. map created by author of safe places to live away from natural disasters Well, the time has come. After decades of sh*tting on the planet, Mother Earth has finally had enough. Just the other day I was lurking in […]
Read more »Protecting London A Matter of ‘National Security’ If Extreme Weather Hits
July 17th, 2024
Courtesy of The Financial Times, a look at how climate preparation must be embedded into government’s growth strategy to avoid ‘catastrophic’ impacts: Protecting London from extreme weather is a matter of “national security”, according to an independent report, which found that flooding, drought and wildfires were putting the UK capital’s economy and citizens at risk. […]
Read more »Rising Seas, Subsidence, and Our Crumbling Shores
July 10th, 2024
Via Earth Island, a report on rising seas, subsidence, and our crumbling shores: THIS SPRING, I found myself on a nature run in Junipero Serra Park, in San Bruno, a small town on the peninsula south of San Francisco. The park is a leafy-green oasis amid a crowded, affluent part of the Bay Area: shaded […]
Read more »Climate Havens: Can Some Cities Provide A Refuge From Extreme Weather?
July 1st, 2024
Via BBC, a report on whether those cities which are advertising themselves as ‘climate havens’ actually protect residents from extreme weather: Over the past few years, the city of Buffalo, New York, has been all over the headlines. But instead of US media focusing only on the city’s occasional epic snowstorm, Buffalo is making news […]
Read more »Rising Sea Levels Will Disrupt Millions of Americans’ Lives by 2050
June 26th, 2024
Via The Guardian, an article on how floods could leave coastal communities in states like Florida and California unlivable in two decades: Sea level rise driven by global heating will disrupt the daily life of millions of Americans, as hundreds of homes, schools and government buildings face frequent and repeated flooding by 2050, a new study has found. Almost 1,100 […]
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.