Climate change - it costs us all - and now the insurers are worried ....

Natural disasters have left the world’s insurers with a $50 billion pound bill for 2009, with a $10 billion for hurricanes, flooding and rain damage in the USA alone. Although this figure is substantially less than the $200 billion bill from the year before, it is still a dramatic increase on the average over the last ten years with the number of instances of catastrophic weather hitting 850 in 2009, above the 10-year average of 770 annual for natural-hazard events and a sign for Munich Re that the rate of weather-related catastrophes continues to rise. The Company, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, said that America is bearing the brunt of weather related incidents, from hurricanes to hailstorms to wild fires, and that the increase in these natural catastrophes is down to climate change. Munich Re said that there is an urgent need for international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change which in turn cause natural disasters. A company spokesman said climate change probably already accounts for a significant share of losses adding "In the light of these facts, it is very disappointing that no breakthrough was achieved at the Copenhagen climate summit in December."See  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/98a3ac0a-f4e2-11de-9cba-00144feab49a.html