Extreme Weather Fueled by Climate Change Hit 4 in 10 Americans Where They Lived in 2021

climate change and higher insurance rates

Wildfires raging in the West, exacerbated by drought; heavy rains in the Midwest, Northeast, and South; deadly heat waves in the Pacific Northwest; hurricanes wreaking havoc from the Gulf Coast to New England: Many Americans found it impossible to ignore the extreme weather caused by climate change in 2021. According to a Washington Post analysis,… Continue reading Extreme Weather Fueled by Climate Change Hit 4 in 10 Americans Where They Lived in 2021

Communities Far from Flammable Forests Increasingly at Risk As Embers Flung for Miles in CO Wildfire

two silhouette on housefire background

Boulder County Commissioner Matt Jones was driving back from photographing a winter wildfire six miles from his home when his wife called to say they were being evacuated due to the same blaze. “This can’t be happening,” Mr. Jones, who had spent years fighting wildfires, recalled thinking. “Wildfires do not strike Louisville, Colorado.” The 6,067-acre… Continue reading Communities Far from Flammable Forests Increasingly at Risk As Embers Flung for Miles in CO Wildfire

Climate Change Turns Up the Heat on Carriers and Insureds

Natural disasters and homeowners insurance

Tony and Jhan Dunn never thought they would leave California, where they grew up, built a life together and planned to retire. But after a wildfire swept through their Northern California town of Paradise three years ago, burning their home to the ground, they could not get insurance to buy another. “We basically got priced… Continue reading Climate Change Turns Up the Heat on Carriers and Insureds

Lloyd’s CEO: Climate Is the ‘Biggest Single Opportunity’ the Insurance Industry Has Ever Seen

climate change and higher insurance rates

According to the CEO of the centuries-old insurance market Lloyd’s, climate is the “ultimate systemic risk” and represents “the biggest single opportunity the insurance industry has ever seen.” In an interview with CNBC, John Neal, the British company’s CEO, attempted to paint a picture of how his industry would operate in the future. “We think… Continue reading Lloyd’s CEO: Climate Is the ‘Biggest Single Opportunity’ the Insurance Industry Has Ever Seen

Employers Eyeing People-Focused Efforts to Help Achieve Climate Goals

Climate Change

With the UN Climate Change Conference underway and efforts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions gaining momentum, North American employers are now focusing on people-oriented interventions to help achieve climate goals, according to a survey by leading global advisory, broking and solutions company Willis Towers Watson. The HR and Climate Strategy Survey found nearly half (46%)… Continue reading Employers Eyeing People-Focused Efforts to Help Achieve Climate Goals

U.S. Regulators Unveil Blueprint to Tackle Financial Climate Risks

Climate change

Climate change is an “emerging threat” to U.S. financial stability that regulators should address in their everyday work, a top U.S. regulatory panel said on Thursday, a first for the United States which has lagged other wealthy countries on tackling financial climate risks. The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) issued a 133-page report that could… Continue reading U.S. Regulators Unveil Blueprint to Tackle Financial Climate Risks

Climate Change Replaces Pandemic as Insurers’ Biggest Worry

climate change and higher insurance rates

Climate change has returned to the top of the list of insurers’ biggest concerns as the vaccine roll-out and gradual lifting of health restrictions see pandemic fears ease in many countries. Global warming was ranked as the biggest risk to society over the next five to 10 years in a report released Tuesday by French… Continue reading Climate Change Replaces Pandemic as Insurers’ Biggest Worry

Overlapping Disasters Expose Harsh Climate Reality: The U.S. Is Not Ready

climate change and higher insurance rates

In Louisiana and Mississippi, nearly one million people lack electricity and drinking water after a hurricane obliterated power lines. In California, wildfire menaces Lake Tahoe, forcing tens of thousands to flee. In Tennessee, flash floods killed at least 20; hundreds more perished in a heat wave in the Northwest. And in New York City, 7… Continue reading Overlapping Disasters Expose Harsh Climate Reality: The U.S. Is Not Ready

Severe Drought Could Threaten Power Supply in West for Years to Come

Aerial view of Hoover Dam

As drought persists across more than 95% of the American West, water elevation at the Hoover Dam has sunk to record-low levels, endangering a source of hydroelectric power for an estimated 1.3 million people across California, Nevada and Arizona. The water level at Lake Mead, the Colorado River reservoir serving the Hoover Dam, fell to… Continue reading Severe Drought Could Threaten Power Supply in West for Years to Come

U.N. Panel Report: Some Climate-Change Effects May Be Irreversible

One of the most popular stops on an Alaskan cruise / Alaska vacation, Hubbard Glacier is a very active calving glacier. Unlike most glaciers, Hubbard is advancing vs. receding. Despite it's advancing status, this photo is often used to depict global warming and climate change as a massive piece of Hubbard glacier calves off into Disenchantment Bay

Rising seas, melting ice caps and other effects of a warming climate may be irreversible for centuries and are “unequivocally” driven by greenhouse-gas emissions from human activity, a scientific panel working under the auspices of the United Nations said Monday in a new report. Issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an organization of… Continue reading U.N. Panel Report: Some Climate-Change Effects May Be Irreversible