Weather Risk

Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heat waves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly weather disasters, an international panel of climate scientists said in a new report issued Wednesday.

Insurance commissioners in New York, California and Washington State will require that insurance companies disclose their responses to the risks their insureds face from increasingly severe storms and wildfires, rising sea levels and other consequences of climate change.

Wildfires have grown from being regional or seasonal problems as the wildfire season throughout the United States often runs the entire year and in a variety of locations.

Wildfires have grown from being regional or seasonal problems as the wildfire season throughout the United States often runs the entire year and in a variety of locations.

Citing the need for regulators to understand how the risk of climate change can impact carriers, three states say they will require insurers to respond to the climate-risk survey adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2009.

Recognizing the need for insurance-risk transfer in Caribbean states vulnerable to climate change, Munich Re says it has received permission to launch a program that provides insurance to workers and farmers most likely to suffer from hurricanes and floods in the region.