No Increasing Trend In Weather Related Insured Losses 1967-2

28 Jun 2008

QUOTE: The impact of human-induced climate change on insured losses is not detectable at this time.

Ryan Crompton and John McAneney of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia have an important new paper in the August, 2008 issue of the journal Environmental Science & Policy titled "Normalised Australian insured losses from meteorological hazards: 1967-2006.".

Once the weather-related insured losses are normalised, they exhibit no obvious trend over time that might be attributed to other factors, including human-induced climate change. Given this result, we echo previous studies in suggesting that practical steps taken to reduce the vulnerability of communities to today's weather would alleviate the impact under any future climate; the success of improved building standards in reducing tropical cyclone wind-induced losses is evidence that important gains can be made through disaster risk reduction.

The text of the paper includes this discussion:

The collective evidence reviewed above suggests that societal factors - dwelling numbers and values - would be the predominant reasons for increasing insured losses due to natural hazards in Australia.

The impact of human-induced climate change on insured losses is not detectable at this time. This being the case, it seems logical that in addition to efforts undertaken to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, significant investments be made to reduce society's vulnerability to current and future climate and the associated variability. Employing both mitigation and adaptation contemporaneously will benefit society now and into the future.

The authors note that the Insurance Council of Australia's Natural Disaster Event List spans 40 years and that it is 'one of the more comprehensive disaster loss records in the world.'

http://www.jennifermarohasy.com/blog/archives/003204.html --

Warmest Regards
Bonzo
".it should not be surprising to see hordes of former Reds, or of those who otherwise would have become Reds, turning from Marxism and becoming the Greens of the ecology movement. It is the same fundamental philosophy in a different guise, ready as ever to wage war on the freedom and well-being of the individual." Dr. George Reisman's book Capitalism