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Munich Re warns climate change could cost billions

Published: 26 Nov 09 18:37 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/money/20091126-23549.html

Natural disasters linked to climate change could cost the insurance industry billions of dollars in extra settlement payments every year, German insurance giant Munich Re said Thursday.

The company's statistics show that "globally, the average number of major weather-related catastrophes such as wind storms, floods or droughts is now three times as high as at the beginning of the 1980's."

"Losses have risen even more, with average increases of 11 percent per year since 1980," it said.

The firm said that although it was unclear to what extent the increased losses were a direct consequence of climate change, preliminary analysis suggested a "low single-digit percentage of annual overall losses."

"The amounts involved are enormous," it said. "Even conservative estimates show that we are talking here about climate change costs already running into billions per year.

"The insurance industry is able to adapt but, in the end, each individual has to bear the cost," the firm said.

The statement came ahead of UN-sponsored climate change talks starting on December 7 in Copenhagen.

The talks are aimed at hammering out a global pact to reduce man-made emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for droughts, heavy flooding and unpredictable weather patterns.

Munich Re said it "makes economic sense to lay cornerstones for a new agreement, with ambitious targets, in Copenhagen. "Even now, climate change can no longer be halted, it can only be attenuated. And it is high time this was done."

AFP (news@thelocal.de)

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19:57 November 26, 2009 by the old rang
It seems most of the media in the world are pushing very hard to have all of the 'global warming' scare stories deluging the public.

There seems to be a concerted effort, to also drown out the seeming scam the great political entities, the media, and a group of so called 'scientists' in England have perpetrated upon the world.

Pushing what by the incident of discovery of a scam, shows as a lie, and not covering the (NOW PROBABLE TRUE) outing of the scam would imply collusion.

Now, many reputable scientists acknowledge the scam seems true. The same scientists mentioned as 'the bad guys' so to speak, by the scammers.

The scammers plead that they have been harmed, as opposed to their trying to deliberately harm the world, and throw it (with the cooperation of the owners of the scammers) into world dictatorship and real climate disaster.

Nice to know, if there are sides, which one who is on...
20:16 November 26, 2009 by berlinski
So insurance premiums go up also. Greeeeaaaaaaat!
05:46 November 27, 2009 by Mutantone
And still the political groups are going to Copenhagen, to make every one return to the 1900 levels of carbon emissions the truth is out there but they have ignored these truths and are planning to go ahead with the reduction of carbon emissions by up to 80% with notable exceptions being excluded from the required reductions' like China with emissions over 6,000 million metric tons. Mexico produced more than 430m tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2006, making it the 13th largest emitter in the world. The use of the per capita CO2 emissions as a rule of measure is sort of lop sided when you consider that the population density of the populace regions makes the statistical reference unacceptable, it is like dividing a pie into shares the more people the smaller the share, thus the per capita CO2 for five million is less than that for one million, and thus statically the million will have a burden a lot higher than the five million all be it that the five million will produce more CO2.

And we are going to let the UN police the efforts they who can not even stop Iran from developing Nuclear weapons, what will one of those do to the carbon emissions?

Something very wrong is going on here, and it amounts to treasonable behavior on many of those involved. And Still the lie is believed
10:15 November 27, 2009 by So36
Even if you've got your head so far stuck in the sand you can deny the mounting evidence about global warming, why would you oppose reducing CO2 emissions and renewable energy? I guess you don't give a damn about the future of your own children.
17:57 November 27, 2009 by Cincinnatus
Anthropogenic Global Warming is the largest FRAUD in human history. The same community of criminals were crying wolf over global cooling nearly forty years ago. The alarmists, who scream crisis, whenever they want to stampede people into rash and unconsidered action, know that their only hope of getting their way is for people to react without thinking.
21:31 November 27, 2009 by DrGideonPolya
We respond to life-threatening disease by taking the best advice from top medical experts - and not from corporate-corrupted politicians or ignorant anonymous bloggers. Similarly , in relation to the worsening climate emergency, we should take the advice from top climate scientists (e.g. Dr James Hansen, head, NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research., Germany, and the Coral Working Party of the prestigious UK Royal Society) who are telling us that the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration should be urgently DECREASED from the current circa 390 parts per million (ppm) to a safe and sustainable level of 300-350 ppm. Unfortunately, world governments are getting their advice from corporate lobbyists and want to INCREASE atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution. In particular, in climate criminal Apartheid Australia, the Developed World's worst per capita GHG polluter, recently proposed a bipartisan plan to permanently exclude agriculture from any GHG cap, thereby committing to over 50% of its current annual GHG pollution FOREVER. Climate criminal corporations and countries should be held responsible for the climate damage - as suggested to Congress by America's top climate scientist Dr James Hansen in relation to CEOs who deliberately mislead the public over the worsening climate emergency.
19:41 December 1, 2009 by duckys
Has anyone thought about...

History is only repeating itself....

I mean look back millions of years ago... most land was covered by water....

What are we blaming for the coverage of water??? I mean the ice age was after this right???

Maybe the dinosaurs had to much gas??? :)

Maybe i should get a ticket to the Moon or Mars...?
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