Note
This publication is available exclusively to Munich Re clients. Please contact your Client Manager.
3 March 2015 | Press Release
Princeton, 3 March 2015
– Over the past years,
persistent extreme weather conditions have triggered severe natural
catastrophes and caused losses in the billions. There is a growing
number of scientific studies that suggest an increase in
quasi-stationary weather patterns and their correlation with the
considerable rise in temperature in the Arctic due to global
warming.The current “Topics Geo
2014” publication, with its in-depth
analyses and vast trove of data on the natural catastrophes of the
past year, addresses this topic.
“In North America during the winter of
2014, a resilient ridge of high pressure established itself over
the northeastern Pacific Ocean, creating unusually warm and dry
conditions that extended from California northward to
Alaska,” said Mark
Bove, Senior Research Meteorologist for Munich Re America.
“However, the ridge also helped to
destabilize the arctic polar vortex, sending frigid air southward
over the eastern two-thirds of North America for most of the
winter.”
“Insured winter storm losses in the United
States in 2014 were the highest in eight years, at $2.3 billion,
while insured losses due to severe thunderstorm events exceeded $10
billion for the sixth year in a row,” Bove
said.
The scientific community is engaging in intense discussion as to
whether climate change, and particularly the extremely pronounced
warming in the Arctic, are responsible for these altered weather
patterns. “It is not yet possible to
produce causal proof, but there is a logical chain of
indices”, according to Peter
Höppe, Head of Geo Risks Research at Munich
Re.
New research sees the warming in the Arctic as an important factor
in the increasing and persisting cold-air outbreaks towards the
south, as over North America and Asia in 2014. A study of the
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research also establishes a
correlation between weather extremes in summer with the accelerated
melting of ice in the Arctic. Flooding in Europe (1997, 2002, 2013)
or heatwaves in North America (1983,1984, 2011, 2012) also merit
mention.
In addition to the longer-term trends and the natural catastrophes
of 2014, Topics Geo 2014 addresses the use of social networks for
disaster relief and assessing losses from natural catastrophes.
“If we can use information from social
media more effectively, it will open up entirely new perspectives
for crisis and catastrophe management. Faster and more precise loss
estimates will become possible for the insurance industry, in the
future, if this information could be used even more
systematically,” according to Torsten
Jeworrek, Munich Re’s Reinsurance CEO.
Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are
based on current assumptions and forecasts of the management of
Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. Known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences
between the forward-looking statements given here and the actual
development, in particular the results, financial situation and
performance of our Company. The Company assumes no liability to
update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to
future events or developments.
Interesting? Share this content on your favourite social media platform.
© Copyright 2015 Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This publication is available exclusively to Munich Re clients. Please contact your Client Manager.