X

Archives

Navigating Our World During a Time of Crisis

Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager 09.22.2024

 

“We are born to a dangerous time. Consider that an affliction or consider it an assignment.” – Stephen Jenkinson   We know that countless humans are reeling with climate anxiety and experiencing fear, anger, grief, despair and dread. They are attempting to cope via massive amounts of denial, instead of seeking to thrive by building […]

 

Full Article

How Proactive Businesses Prepare for Climate Risks

Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager 09.17.2024

 

Depending on a number of variables, your business is either already vulnerable to risks from our climate crisis, or soon will be.   Climate anxiety is not an issue just for families and individuals… it affects organizations too. Especially those whose business models depend on operating in places already seeing significant climate impacts. As with […]

 

Full Article

New Product Development in an Era of Climate Crisis

08.06.2024

 

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series by crew members concerning business opportunities that would not exist if it weren’t for our rapidly changing climate. This Crew Commentary is authored by Scott Hamilton. Scott is a Board Advisor who manages Torastan, a consulting firm focusing on enterprise growth and sustainability located in Wokingham, […]

 

Full Article

Wildfires Here Now: We Have to Adapt as We Mitigate

Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager 07.20.2024

 

NOTE: As I write this on a July weekend in Portland OR… here’s today’s headline in the New York Times: “Pacific Northwest Faces Critical Fire Risk as Wildfires Burn”. About 1.7 million people are under fire danger warnings on Sunday as a heat wave continues to bake the region and several large blazes burn in Oregon. […]

 

Full Article

Potential Energies and the Environmental Risks They Represent

06.22.2024

 

Engineering dynamics tells us to pay attention to “potential energy”. That’s the energy that will be released if some restraining condition is removed. A simple example would be a glass sitting on the edge of a table. If the glass is knocked off the table, the glass crashes to the floor – turning potential energy […]

 

Full Article

Adaptation and Regeneration

Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager 03.12.2024

 

To support the shift from an extract/manufacture/toss linear economy to a zero carbon/methane/waste circular economy, we must support natural processes and leave more room for nature to thrive. Sustainability and reducing emissions are no longer enough. We’ve run out of time. We now need to focus on actively improving Spaceship Earth’s ecosystem via Regeneration.   […]

 

Full Article

Parts of Spaceship Earth are Becoming Uninsurable

Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager 02.20.2024

 

The rate of climate change surged alarmingly over the past decade, posing a ‘code red’ emergency for the world and the insurance industry.   $122 billion total insured losses worldwide from weather-related natural catastrophes in 2023. (Swiss RE)   250% rise in economic losses over the past three decades due to climate change. (Capgemini)   […]

 

Full Article

Climate Models Did Not Predict This

Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager 01.29.2024

 

Gavin Schmidt is a climate modeler at NASA. Climate modeling takes in all of the climate data (climate is an extremely complex and highly interconnected system) from thousands of sensors on the land at different altitudes, and in the oceans at different depths, around the world and uses software to run models of what we […]

 

Full Article

Voting for the Environment

Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager 11.14.2023

 

Human-driven global warming has long been a divisive issue in the U.S., thanks in part to decades of polarizing messaging from industry, political figures and others. As the world experiences extreme heat and other climate change-driven events with increasing frequency, people’s views on what’s happening still vary widely, but they are changing.   The political […]

 

Full Article

Systems Changes Needed in Governance, Insurance and Disaster Preparedness

Bob Leonard - Climate Risk Manager 10.31.2023

 

I was in the room seven years ago when David Houle, the futurist, addressed the annual conference of Sarasota County realtors. If you don’t know, Sarasota is a seaside city on the Gulf coast of Florida. It has several heavily populated barrier islands just a couple feet above sea level. He said, “When will it […]

 

Full Article