Insurance industry may be confronted with rising sea levels

[Trakar]

Insurance industry may be confronted with rising sea levels - Insurance industry may be confronted with rising sea levels

Report shows sea levels rising in the east coast

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has published a new report that documents the rate at which the sea level along the Atlantic Coast is rising. The report shows that the sea level in this region is rising three-to-four times faster than it is in other parts of the world. The report suggests that climate change could be playing a factor, as warming temperatures are having an effect in the far north. What higher sea levels could mean for the U.S. insurance industry is a complicated issue.

Climate change begins to see a major advocate in the insurance industry
Insurers have long been attuned to the risks posed by climate change. Many of begun campaigning for more serious action to be taken to mitigate the effects of the phenomenon, while others have been avoiding the issue entirely due to its controversial nature. The data from the USGS report suggests that insurers will have plenty to worry about whether they believe in climate change or not.

(...)

Insurance industry continues to prepare for possibility of future disasters
While much of the U.S. has been divided by the issue of climate change, the insurance industry is less inclined to leave the issue as nothing more than a possibility. Many insurance companies have begun preparing for the impact of stronger storms and rising sea levels spurred by climate change.

It must be divine irony, I truely despise the US Insurance industry, it rankles me that they may indeed become one of the main US industries to begin strongly pushing for effective climate change policies. So sad, but this issue is bigger than my dislike of the way they choose to turn profits.

 

[Old Rocks]

Munich Re - Climate Change

Climate change is a subject that concerns us all.It is one of the greatest risks facing mankind. In recent years, Munich Re has actively supported and advanced climate protection and adaptation to global warming

 

[Old Rocks]

Climate change discussions heat up | Swiss Re - Leading Global Reinsurer

The event, aimed at reinvigorating conversations on climate change among US policy-makers, was also attended by the President of the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA), the Chief Risk Officer of Willis Re, and the insurance industry director of Ceres, a non-profit organization that leads a national coalition of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change.

The senators recognized the crucial role the insurance industry has to play in the ongoing debate around climate change. Senator Sanders stated: "It is extremely important that we have the scientific community documenting the impact of global warming but it is equally important we have people in the business community who are also speaking out about the risks associated with global warming. Perhaps no industry better understands the impact of global warming than the insurance industry whose job it is to analyze risk."

In Mark's address he highlighted the need for an international agreement on carbon emissions reductions which in turn requires a strong commitment from the US Congress for such an agreement to be reached. He also spoke about the need to increase the resiliency of society to weather related risks.

"Society is simply too vulnerable to weather impacts as we saw so clearly in the unprecedented flooding, tornado and drought events that occurred in states such as Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, Missouri and Texas last year."

 

[ScienceRocks]

 

[bobgnote]

Here we go, Bears:

Insurance and reinsurance in a changing climate

Most insurers, particularly American ones, have been reluctant until recently to link their own business to the risks of climate change. Climate activists recognized in the early 1990s that the insurance sector would be significantly affected by natural disasters and should have an interest in preventing climate change. It has taken time, but insurers are finally recognizing the potential threat to their business posed by changing weather patterns. They have been prodded to act by a series of extreme weather events, increasing scientific evidence, targeting by climate change activists, changes in government policy, and by the early acceptance by major international reinsurers of the need to act.

 

[Trakar]

Sorry, daily life interruptus.

An article I ran across this morning demanded to be mentioned in this thread:

"Insurers Get New Weapon For Global Warming Coverage Rows"

Law360, New York (June 27, 2012, 8:36 PM ET) -- The D.C. Circuit's Tuesday decision upholding a determination by regulators that greenhouse gas emissions threaten human health could be used as ammo for insurers' argument that pollution exclusions rule out coverage of global warming suits, experts say.

The appeals court upheld various steps the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took to reduce greenhouse emissions after the U.S. Supreme Court held in 2007 that GHGs were air pollutants subject to regulation under the Clean Air Act.

It's likely the insurance industry will point to the D.C. Circuit's decision to bolster its argument that pollution exclusions in commercial general liability policies bar coverage for lawsuits against GHG emitters over global warming, according to Laura Foggan, a Wiley Rein LLP attorney who regularly represents insurers.

"Cases like this one reinforce that kind of self-evident point that greenhouse gases that can contribute to global warming are pollutants," Foggan said Wednesday.

John Nevius, a policyholder attorney at Anderson Kill & Olick PC, agreed that insurers would hold up the ruling in an attempt to avoid defending their insureds against climate change litigation. But he said policyholders can argue that there's a distinction between classifying something as a pollutant for the purpose of regulation and defining it under a policy exclusion.

"Whether and how the government regulates something is separate from the legal and factual inquiry as to what was intended by the language of the pollution exclusion," Nevius said. "Just because it's determined to be harmful doesn't mean it's an excluded pollutant under a general liability policy."...

more eel than shark, IMO.

 

[waltky]

Granny wonderin' what dey gonna do when alla Australia under water?...

Rising seas create crisis for Australia’s beachfront
Mon, Jul 23, 2012 - When Elaine Pearce left Sydney for the seaside peace of Old Bar 12 years ago she was assured her new house was a solid investment, with a century’s worth of frontage to guard against erosion.

But three neighbors have already lost their homes to the rising ocean and there are scores more at risk as roaring seas batter the idyllic beachside town, ploughing through 40m of foredune in just eight years. “I wanted water frontage, and frontage I’m going to get,” Pearce joked. Property values have dived along her once exclusive cul-de-sac, with homes once worth A$1.5 or A$2 million (US$1.5 or US$2 million) now abandoned and offered for A$300,000. Weathered “For Sale” signs dot the sidewalk.

UNWANTED

Insurers will not cover homes for erosion and long-time local resident Allan Willan said the banks were even struggling to sell off the land on which the repossessed homes stand. “They can’t even give it away,” said Willan, who estimates that another 5m of frontage could “easily” be lost in the next storm period. “If it continues at this rate in seven years it’s going to be at the front door,” he said.

Old Bar is the most rapidly eroding and at-risk piece of coast in populous New South Wales (NSW) state, losing an average 1m of seafront every year and far outstripping other areas in terms of property at risk. Andrew Short, director of Sydney University’s coastal studies unit and a government planning advisor, said the 4,000-person town was among the worst erosion sites in Australia, with huge volumes of sand routinely lost in storms.

HOT SPOTS

Currently there are 14 similar “hot-spots” along the densely populated NSW coast — a region home to some 5.8 million Australians — with about 100 properties at risk. However, Short said “many hundreds of properties, if not thousands” would be at risk in the next 50 to 100 years as sea levels rise due to climate change, with planning authorities factoring in a 1m increase over the next century.

Australia’s government estimates that more than A$226 billion in commercial, industrial and residential property and road and rail infrastructure is at risk from erosion and inundation by 2100. That forecast includes 274,000 homes.

Old Bar has been in the grip of an unprecedented storm period, in terms of both frequency and strength, and University of New South Wales oceanographer Matthew England said it was a trend likely to intensify. “The sea level rise is one thing, but we’re expecting storms to become more intense and storm surges are what really hits these low-lying coastal communities,” England said.

RISING WATERS

 

[Trakar]

Granny wonderin' what dey gonna do when alla Australia under water?...

Rising seas create crisis for Australia’s beachfront
Mon, Jul 23, 2012 - When Elaine Pearce left Sydney for the seaside peace of Old Bar 12 years ago she was assured her new house was a solid investment, with a century’s worth of frontage to guard against erosion.

But three neighbors have already lost their homes to the rising ocean and there are scores more at risk as roaring seas batter the idyllic beachside town, ploughing through 40m of foredune in just eight years. “I wanted water frontage, and frontage I’m going to get,” Pearce joked. Property values have dived along her once exclusive cul-de-sac, with homes once worth A$1.5 or A$2 million (US$1.5 or US$2 million) now abandoned and offered for A$300,000. Weathered “For Sale” signs dot the sidewalk.

UNWANTED

Insurers will not cover homes for erosion and long-time local resident Allan Willan said the banks were even struggling to sell off the land on which the repossessed homes stand. “They can’t even give it away,” said Willan, who estimates that another 5m of frontage could “easily” be lost in the next storm period. “If it continues at this rate in seven years it’s going to be at the front door,” he said.

Old Bar is the most rapidly eroding and at-risk piece of coast in populous New South Wales (NSW) state, losing an average 1m of seafront every year and far outstripping other areas in terms of property at risk. Andrew Short, director of Sydney University’s coastal studies unit and a government planning advisor, said the 4,000-person town was among the worst erosion sites in Australia, with huge volumes of sand routinely lost in storms.

HOT SPOTS

Currently there are 14 similar “hot-spots” along the densely populated NSW coast — a region home to some 5.8 million Australians — with about 100 properties at risk. However, Short said “many hundreds of properties, if not thousands” would be at risk in the next 50 to 100 years as sea levels rise due to climate change, with planning authorities factoring in a 1m increase over the next century.

Australia’s government estimates that more than A$226 billion in commercial, industrial and residential property and road and rail infrastructure is at risk from erosion and inundation by 2100. That forecast includes 274,000 homes.

Old Bar has been in the grip of an unprecedented storm period, in terms of both frequency and strength, and University of New South Wales oceanographer Matthew England said it was a trend likely to intensify. “The sea level rise is one thing, but we’re expecting storms to become more intense and storm surges are what really hits these low-lying coastal communities,” England said.

RISING WATERS

It may well be only a matter of time, now, before property insurance as we have grown used to it over the last century, is no longer a viable industry. This will have economic ripples across the board.

Could Climate Change End Property Insurance? | Earthtechling

...
The actuarial industry has depended on a statistically fairly predictable limit to the likelihood of catastrophic events over time, in order to not lose money. For centuries, that has worked fairly well, because the odds of disaster could be bet on, based on experience. The past likelihood of disaster was a good bet on its future likelihood.

Historically, when the expenses of covering catastrophic losses rose, then insurance rates were raised. When more people with more money moved to dangerous wildfire regions, for example, their insurance rates were raised.

But in a future world of increasingly bizarre and unpredictable extreme weather events, there could come a point where claims cost more than the premiums that insurers could reasonably charge over that time period. At that point insurers would have to close up shop...

This will make mortgages riskier propositions,...and not just on the coasts. Floods, wildfires, blizzards tornadoes, shear winds,...as we pump up the moisture and energy the atmosphere contains on average, the more intense the differentials we potentiate.

 

[Old Rocks]

And in order to have insurance, one will find that the building codes required for insurance will make the construction much more expensive. For instance, there are buildings, domes, that have withstood F5 tornadoes quite well. Domes. But they are spendy to build, and not all that space efficient. And, since we have seen this in several parts of our nation already, 2 to 3 one hundred year floods in the space of 20 years, building all new construction on the basis of the one hundred year flood line.

 

[skookerasbil]

Insurance industry may be confronted with rising sea levels - Insurance industry may be confronted with rising sea levels

Report shows sea levels rising in the east coast

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has published a new report that documents the rate at which the sea level along the Atlantic Coast is rising. The report shows that the sea level in this region is rising three-to-four times faster than it is in other parts of the world. The report suggests that climate change could be playing a factor, as warming temperatures are having an effect in the far north. What higher sea levels could mean for the U.S. insurance industry is a complicated issue.

Climate change begins to see a major advocate in the insurance industry
Insurers have long been attuned to the risks posed by climate change. Many of begun campaigning for more serious action to be taken to mitigate the effects of the phenomenon, while others have been avoiding the issue entirely due to its controversial nature. The data from the USGS report suggests that insurers will have plenty to worry about whether they believe in climate change or not.

(...)

Insurance industry continues to prepare for possibility of future disasters
While much of the U.S. has been divided by the issue of climate change, the insurance industry is less inclined to leave the issue as nothing more than a possibility. Many insurance companies have begun preparing for the impact of stronger storms and rising sea levels spurred by climate change.

It must be divine irony, I truely despise the US Insurance industry, it rankles me that they may indeed become one of the main US industries to begin strongly pushing for effective climate change policies. So sad, but this issue is bigger than my dislike of the way they choose to turn profits.

Translation??

"I hate capitalism and will bend over backwards for the rest of my days trying to stick it to the successful guy!!!"


All this global warming BS is about one thing: the destruction of the capitalistic system and global wealth redistribution. Its right n the UN Climate Change Playbook I posted up several weeks ago.

These people............they spend their lives in misery, trying to fuck up the lives of the rest of us due to their own fucked up personal decisions. Its always the same...........but thatnk God they are losing.

 

[eflatminor]

...I truely despise the US Insurance industry...my dislike of the way they choose to turn profits.

Can't have anyone making a profit, can we?! What a dolt you are! Why exactly would anyone risk their capital to accept a risk in return for premium if they didn't have a chance of making a profit? Idiot!

Also, your article, whoever wrote it, doesn't know shit about the insurance industry. First, no insurer covers flood. The federal government has a monopoly on that market. Second, to state that "Many insurance companies have begun preparing for the impact of stronger storms" is just ignorant. Insurance have always monitored their exposures subject to strong storms and do so on a continual basis. This hasn't a damn thing to do with man made global warming, it's just managing exposure.

You're either highly ignorant or your IQ is showing. Either way, it isn't pretty.

 

[Trakar]

...I truely despise the US Insurance industry...my dislike of the way they choose to turn profits.

Can't have anyone making a profit, can we?! What a dolt you are! Why exactly would anyone risk their capital to accept a risk in return for premium if they didn't have a chance of making a profit? Idiot!

Do you approve of every venture solely on the basis of whether it earns a profit? If not, then our positions are the same, we merely disagree upon which profit earning ventures we approve and disapprove of.

Also, your article, whoever wrote it, doesn't know shit about the insurance industry. First, no insurer covers flood. The federal government has a monopoly on that market.

Simply incorrect, there is an emergency federal flood insurance program but it neither covers all damages/loses, nor is it the only flood insurance available in the US.

New Flood Insurance Policy Provides Up to $15 Million in Limits

Excess Flood Insurance from Chartis in the United States

http://www.firemansfund.com/Documen...aterFlood_WebBrochure_C_60351-A-ltr-12-08.pdf

Not a full listing, by a long shot, but these are the major private flood insurers in the US.

Second, to state that "Many insurance companies have begun preparing for the impact of stronger storms" is just ignorant. Insurance have always monitored their exposures subject to strong storms and do so on a continual basis. This hasn't a damn thing to do with man made global warming, it's just managing exposure.

Over the last decade major insurance companies have recognized and acknowledged the role AGW is having, and will have in the future, in enhancing the damages and decreasing the odds of weather events.

(http://www.insurancenetworking.com/news/insurance-climate-change-risk-ceres-30007-1.html)

- From our industry’s perspective, the footprints of climate change are around us and the trend of increasing damage to property and threat to lives is clear,” said Franklin Nutter, president of the Reinsurance Association of America

Cynthia McHale, the insurance program director at Ceres, issued a more unequivocal statement: “Our climate is changing, human activity is helping to drive the change, and the costs of these extreme weather events are going to keep ballooning unless we break through our political paralysis, and bring down emissions that are warming our planet. If we continue on this path, extreme weather is certain to cause more homes and businesses to be uninsurable in the private insurance market, leaving the costs to taxpayers or individuals.”

AIG's statement -

​

Climate change is increasingly recognized as an ongoing, significant global environmental problem with potential risks to the global economy and ecology, and to human health and wellbeing. AIG recognizes the scientific consensus that climate change is a reality and is likely in large part the result of human activities that have led to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere. At the same time, market-based environmental policies and potential new investments provide business opportunities for AIG to address the problem. We will pursue these new opportunities where we have the expertise and capacity to do so in ways that mutually benefit AIG, its shareholders, employees, customers, and the global community.

AIG companies continually factor in changes in climate and weather patterns as an integral part of its underwriting process – a systematic approach to measuring weather risk that includes, among other methods, sophisticated catastrophe exposure modeling. The underwriting process constantly recalculates and revalues risks for our clients, and adjusts coverages and rates accordingly, while simultaneously managing our exposures. We do this to provide the best possible risk management services to our clients while protecting long-term shareholder value. Perhaps no other industry responds as quickly to changes in climate patterns as the insurance industry..."

(more available upon request)

You're either highly ignorant or your IQ is showing. Either way, it isn't pretty.

Turn down the backlighting in the room, you are apparently seeing yourself reflected in your computer monitor.

 

[Trakar]

Translation??

"I hate capitalism and will bend over backwards for the rest of my days trying to stick it to the successful guy!!!"

Not at all, Capitalism has contributions to make to modern economic considerations. It is not the holy grail that those with little more than jingoist understandings are prone to advocating, but it does provide tools and settings that are one of the foundational pillars upon which successful modern economic policy depends upon.

All this global warming BS is about one thing: the destruction of the capitalistic system and global wealth redistribution. Its right n the UN Climate Change Playbook I posted up several weeks ago.

that is you strawman/confusion, not something based within or supported by reality.

These people............they spend their lives in misery, trying to fuck up the lives of the rest of us due to their own fucked up personal decisions. Its always the same...........but thatnk God they are losing.

you not only call "night" "day," but you apparently can't read, which can prove dangerous, (particularly in an election year).

Record Heat Wave Pushes U.S. Belief in Climate Change to 70% - Businessweek

 

[Trakar]

And in order to have insurance, one will find that the building codes required for insurance will make the construction much more expensive. For instance, there are buildings, domes, that have withstood F5 tornadoes quite well. Domes. But they are spendy to build, and not all that space efficient. And, since we have seen this in several parts of our nation already, 2 to 3 one hundred year floods in the space of 20 years, building all new construction on the basis of the one hundred year flood line.

And that was the issue of the post. Construction becomes more expensive, insurance harder to get, mortgages more difficult to come by, these are all across-the-board expenses and costs that are being incurred not from attempts to address climate change but from the ignorant attitudes of those delaying action and acknowledgment of the consequences of past and present actions. As a businessman, this is unacceptable and quickly reaching the point where it is becoming intolerable.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

I love it when Progressives, who think float is only an ice cream soda, talk about the insurance business!

 

[Trakar]

I love it when Progressives, who think float is only an ice cream soda, talk about the insurance business!

You're the main one I see trying to spin straw into gold.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

I love it when Progressives, who think float is only an ice cream soda, talk about the insurance business!

You're the main one I see trying to spin straw into gold.

You're the one turning the ocean to gastric juice

 

[bobgnote]

31,950 posts, and how many of them indicate typical white wingpunk male retard-brand dementia?

You really are a special idiot, Crosstard. Nobody really stays with you and sucksassandballs, at stupid, stupider, and fucking idiotic lunacy, post after post.

 

[skookerasbil]

31,950 posts, and how many of them indicate typical white wingpunk male retard-brand dementia?

You really are a special idiot, Crosstard. Nobody really stays with you and sucksassandballs, at stupid, stupider, and fucking idiotic lunacy, post after post.

but the loons are winning s0n.........and you and your pals, not so much!!!

 

[skookerasbil]

Translation??

"I hate capitalism and will bend over backwards for the rest of my days trying to stick it to the successful guy!!!"

Not at all, Capitalism has contributions to make to modern economic considerations. It is not the holy grail that those with little more than jingoist understandings are prone to advocating, but it does provide tools and settings that are one of the foundational pillars upon which successful modern economic policy depends upon.

All this global warming BS is about one thing: the destruction of the capitalistic system and global wealth redistribution. Its right n the UN Climate Change Playbook I posted up several weeks ago.

that is you strawman/confusion, not something based within or supported by reality.

These people............they spend their lives in misery, trying to fuck up the lives of the rest of us due to their own fucked up personal decisions. Its always the same...........but thatnk God they are losing.

you not only call "night" "day," but you apparently can't read, which can prove dangerous, (particularly in an election year).

Record Heat Wave Pushes U.S. Belief in Climate Change to 70% - Businessweek

fAiL genius............. so says The New York Times..................

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/science/earth/23warm.html?_r=1


I can read well enough to find the poll which cites concerns about global warming DEAD LAST.......22 out of 22.


winning..................


Hysterical how frequently a dumb guy who cant read can one-up the genius's in the information dept.