Insurance industry warns of climate disruption effects

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2016/04/12/405089.htm

Insurance Journal
RIMS 2016: Sea Level Rise Will Be Worse and Come Sooner
By Don Jergler | April 12, 2016

Think sea level rise will be moderate and something we can all plan for? Think again.

Sea levels could rise by much more than originally anticipated, and much faster, according to new data being collected by scientists studying the melting West Antarctic ice sheet – a massive sheet the size of Mexico.

That revelation was made by an official with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday at the annual RIMS conference for risk management and insurance professionals in San Diego, Calif.

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Davidson said recent data that has been collected but has yet to be made official indicates sea levels could rise by roughly 3 meters or 9 feet by 2050-2060, far higher and quicker than current projections. Until now most projections have warned of seal level rise of up to 4 feet by 2100.

These new findings will likely be released in the latest sets of reports on climate change due out in the next few years.

“The latest field data out of West Antarctic is kind of an OMG thing,” she said.

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Angelina said a new way of looking at weather is required when dealing with climate change, and that just looking at averages isn’t enough to give an accurate picture of climate change and the risk it presents.

The projects he’s involved with have instead looked at weather extremes.

“By looking at extremes I can actually acknowledge that I have a problem,” he said.

He used the notorious Bell Curve grading system to illustrate his point.

The goal of the curve is to achieve a 70 percent average among students. But if a teacher got to that 70 percent figure by having half the students failing poorly and half doing excellently, there’s a problem: half of the students aren’t getting it.

Looking at extreme temperature indices from more than 40 years ago and now, “things are different,” he said.

So too are days of excessive rain, and excessive dry days, wind power and the sea level index.

“They’re all up,” he said.

He added: “We’re in a different climate. The climate has changed.”