more on Pentagon: "Climate Change Will Destroy Us"

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Claudio Gutierrez <cgutierrez () improvement cl>
Date: Thu, 04 Mar 2004 16:57:09 
To:Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Pentagon: "Climate Change Will Destroy Us"

Insurer warns of global warming catastrophe
The world's second-largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, warned on Wednesday that 
the costs of natural disasters, aggravated by global warming, threatened 
to spiral out of control, forcing the human race into a catastrophe of 
its own making.

In a report revealing how climate change is rising on the corporate 
agenda, Swiss Re said the economic costs of such disasters threatened to 
double to $150 billion (82 billion pounds) a year in 10 years, hitting 
insurers with $30-40 billion in claims, or the equivalent of one World 
Trade Centre attack annually.

"There is a danger that human intervention will accelerate and intensify 
natural climate changes to such a point that it will become impossible 
to adapt our socio-economic systems in time," Swiss Re said in the report.

"The human race can lead itself into this climatic catastrophe -- or it 
can avert it."

The report comes as a growing number of policy experts warn that the 
environment is emerging as the security threat of the 21st century, 
eclipsing terrorism.

Scientists expect global warming to trigger increasingly frequent and 
violent storms, heat waves, flooding, tornadoes, and cyclones while 
other areas slip into cold or drought.

"Sea levels will continue to rise, glaciers retreat and snow cover 
decline," the insurer wrote.

EXPONENTIAL RISE Losses to insurers from environmental events have risen 
exponentially over the past 30 years, and are expected to rise even more 
rapidly still, said Swiss Re climate expert Pamela Heck.

"Scientists tell us that certain extreme events are going to increase in 
intensity and frequency in the future," Heck told Reuters by telephone. 
"Climate change is very much in the mind of the insurance industry."

Over the past century, the average global temperature has increased by 
0.6 degrees Centigrade, the largest rise for the northern hemisphere in 
the past 1,000 years, Swiss Re said.

In the short- and medium-term, simply knowing that the planet is warming 
will allow society to adapt, for example, through infrastructure to cope 
with more-frequent floods or by instructing farmers to use 
drought-resistant cereals.

In other cases, governments need to restrict risk-taking, such as 
approving housing developments in low-lying areas, and improve 
catastrophe management capabilities.

In the long term, Swiss Re said, greenhouse gases widely thought to 
trigger global warming will need to be reduced, the use of fossil fuels 
cut and new energy technologies developed.

"The role of the insurance industry is through establishing risk 
adequate tariffs and to give the risk taker the opportunity to implement 
appropriate measures to reduce the chance of possible losses," Heck said.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/WireFeed/WireFeed&c=WireFeed&cid=1074160755828

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