The Viridian Design Movement

Viridian Note 00289: The World Is Becoming Uninsurable, Revisited

Bruce Sterling [bruces@well.com]

Key concepts
weather damage, insurance problems, Munich Re, weird formatting on earlier mailout, le's try that again, shall we??
Attention Conservation Notice
It's the latest revelation in the deepening troubles of weather insurers.

Entries in the Enron Logo Contest:

Viridian contest site http://www.bomoco.com/Viridian/viridian.htm http://www.bomoco.com/Viridian/Enron/Enron.htm


This Contest Ends January 12, 2002. Happy New Year

(((See also Notes 00021, 00022, 00023, 00081, 00139)))

Source: Reuters, Jan Dahinten

"Friday December 28 8:59 AM ET

"Natural Disasters Kill 25,000 Worldwide in 2001 (((Mostly earthquakes. Whew!))) By Jan Dahinten

"FRANKFURT (Reuters) — Natural disasters caused at least
25,000 deaths worldwide in 2001, more than double the
previous year, the world's largest reinsurer said on
Friday.


"Putting total economic losses at $36 billion, Munich Re said catastrophes related to extreme weather were a result of continued global climate change.

"It said the 2001 figures == with 14,000 people killed
in an earthquake in India in January alone == compared
with 10,000 deaths the previous year and losses of around
$30 billion.


"Storms and floods dominated this year's statistics, contributing more than two thirds to the 700 major disasters and causing 91 percent of all insured natural disaster losses, Munich Re said.

"Total insured losses were at $11.5 billion compared with $7.5 billion the previous year.

"'Forest fires in Australia, floods in Brazil and in Turkey, snow chaos in central and southern Europe and a typhoon in Singapore, which was meteorologically seen as impossible, are all indications for a link between climate changes and a rise in weather catastrophes,' the company said in a statement.

"Citing World Meteorological Organization (WMO) statistics, the reinsurer said 2001 had been the second warmest year since the beginning of systematic temperature recording 160 years ago.

"Munich Re said the worst event in terms of the number of deaths was an earthquake in the densely-populated northwestern Gujarat region of India with 14,000 deaths confirmed and many more feared dead. (((Not all that well-insured, unsurprisingly.)))

"It said it had counted 80 major earthquakes, burdening economies with around $9-billion losses.

"The worst weather-related disaster in 2001 was tropical storm Allison, which caused losses of some $6 billion, making it 'the most expensive tropical storm in

history.' (((See Notes 00247, 00248, 00251)))

"Munich Re == which faces $1.85 billion in claims
resulting from the September 11 attacks on the World Trade
Center in New York (((ow!))) == said losses from extreme
natural disasters would be even bigger than those arising
from the attacks on the United States."

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O
LOSSES OF $US290 BILLION PER YEAR BY 2050
O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O