Catlin's Seaview Survey shows that coral reefs, the first defense against coastal storm surges, are vanishing. Catlin is sponsoring the Survey to better understand the changes occurring to the planet so better decisions can be made about how to insure developing risks.

Scientists agree that Atlantic-basin hurricane patterns will be affected by a warming climate, but whether scientists use regional or global data to predict future storm patterns drastically alters what the forecasted trends will be.

Scientists agree that Atlantic-basin hurricane patterns will be affected by a warming climate, but whether scientists use regional or global data to predict future storm patterns drastically alters what the forecasted trends will be.

Tropical Storm Isaac weakened slightly as it dumped heavy rain off Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Thursday but it was expected to strengthen into a hurricane before tearing across the Dominican Republic and Haiti, U.S. forecasters said.