For the first 10 months of this year natural disasters cost the insurance industry just over 35 billion dollars, up from 16 billion dollars in 2003, and 2004 was set to go down in the history books, as the most expensive year for the insurance industry world-wide. These figures were released at the international climate change conference that ended recently in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
This year the world has faced many hurricanes, typhoons and other weather related natural disasters. The United States, at over 26 billion dollars, suffered the highest insured losses according to the preliminary figures compiled by Munich Re, one of the world's biggest re-insurance companies. The global insured losses were likely to be even higher when the months of November and December were brought into the equation.
Economic losses, the majority of which were not insured, would also have cost the planet and its people. Preliminary figures for the months January to October estimate that these losses were also among the highest on record totalling, so far, about 90 billion dollars up from over 65 billion dollars in 2003. Hardest hit, have been many small, developing countries with the islands of Grenada and Grand Cayman in the Caribbean underlining the impact on fragile economies.
Hurricane Ivan, which struck Grenada in September, killed 28 people and is estimated to cost one billion dollars in damaged homes, buildings and agricultural losses.
The insurance industry is worried that new climate-related risks might be emerging. Hurricane Catarina, which hit Brazil earlier this year, developed in the Southern Atlantic where normally sea surfaces temperatures are too low to trigger tropical cyclones. "Climate change was already happening with rapid melting of the Arctic and glaciers world-wide. Climate scientists anticipate an increase and intensity of extreme weather events and this is what the insurance industry was experiencing resulting in year on year losses," an environment expert said.
A few key disasters in 2004 were Hurricane Catarina hit southern Brazil in March causing an estimated 350 million dollars in economic losses. This was the first time since world-wide observations began that a hurricane developed in the Southern Atlantic where sea surface temperatures were usually too low for tropical cyclones. Hurricane Jeanne released torrential rain on Hispaniola, causing severe flooding and killing more than 2,000 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. A record number of 10 typhoons made landfall in Japan, the most destructive of which were Chaba, Songda and Tokage, one of the strongest typhoons ever. Altogether they caused economic losses of 10 billion dollars and insured losses of more than six billion dollars. Hurricane Ivan was one of the most destructive and strongest storms ever, maintaining a strength of category force four to five on the Saffir Simpson for more than five days. Apart from the Caribbean Islands, the storm also caused serious damage to offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Economic losses are estimated as up to three billion dollars.
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