[IP] more on Pentagon: "Climate Change Will Destroy Us"
-----Original Message-----
From: Claudio Gutierrez <cgutierrez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 04 Mar 2004 16:57:09
To:Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
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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