Insurer
Warns of Global Warming Catastrophe
By Thomas Atkins
04 March, 2004
Reuters
The
world's second-largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, warned 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 Center 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.
©2004 Reuters
Ltd