How is the Insurance Industry Profiting from Global Warming?
Global Warming Insurance
Global warming refers to the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's nearsurface
air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation.
Global temperatures on both land and sea have increased by 0.75 °C (1.35 °F) relative to
the period 1860–1900, according to the instrumental temperature record. This measured
temperature increase is not significantly affected by the urban heat island effect. Since 1979, land temperatures have increased about twice as fast as ocean temperatures (0.25
°C per decade against 0.13 °C per decade. Temperatures in the lower troposphere have increased between 0.12 and 0.22 °C (0.22 and 0.4 °F) per decade since 1979, according to satellite temperature measurements. Temperature is believed to have been relatively stable over the one or two thousand years before 1850, with possibly regional fluctuations such as the Medieval Warm Period or the Little Ice Age.
The predicted effects of global warming for the environment and for human life are numerous and varied. The main effect is an increasing global average temperature. From this flow a variety of resulting effects, namely, rising sea levels, altered patterns of agriculture, increased extreme weather events, and the expansion of the range of tropical diseases. In some cases, the effects may already be occurring, although it is generally difficult to attribute specific natural phenomena to long-term global warming. The extent and likelihood of these consequences is a matter of considerable political controversy; and in the details, a matter of some scientific uncertainty.
An industry very directly affected by the risks is the insurance industry; the number of major natural disasters has trebled since the 1960s, and insured losses increased fifteenfold in real terms (adjusted for inflation). According to one study, 35-40% of the worst catastrophes have been climate change related. Over the past three decades, the proportion of the global population affected by weather-related disasters has doubled in linear trend, rising from roughly 2% in 1975 to 4% in 2001.
This report on Global Warming Insurance looks at the impact global warming is having on the insurance industry, which industry experts predict is the worst hit industry when it comes to battling and getting over the growing number of natural disasters.
The report analyzes the basics of global warming, the cause and effect of global warming, the economics of global warming, and then moves on to look at the impact of global warming on the insurance industry. Included in the report are growth drivers, issues facing the industry, insurance industry action plans, etc.
Biofuel is any fuel that is derived from biomass - recently living organisms or their metabolic byproducts, such as manure from cows. It is a renewable energy source, unlike other natural resources such as petroleum, coal, and nuclear fuels.
Agricultural products specifically grown for use as biofuels include corn and soybeans, primarily in the United States; as well as flaxseed and rapeseed, primarily in Europe; sugar cane in Brazil and palm oil in South-East Asia. (MORE)
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