January 12th, 2017
GC Capital Ideas Top CAT-i Stories: 2016
Posted at 1:00 AM ET
Here is a look back at the top CAT-i stories for the year 2016.
Posts Tagged ‘Fires’
November 30th, 2016
Sevier County Wildfires
Posted at 3:49 PM ET
Wildfire activity has rendered severe impacts to areas of Sevier County, Tennessee including the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge areas. The fire activity began late Sunday on Chimney Tops Mountain as a 10 acre fire that grew at an extreme rate Monday evening due to strong, gusty winds. Wind gusts well in excess of 60 mph carried embers a considerable distance to start new fires in extremely dry vegetation from recent drought. Gusty winds also brought trees down onto powerlines sparking new fires in surrounding dry vegetation.
October 11th, 2016
GC Capital Ideas Top CAT-i Stories for the Third Quarter, 2016
Posted at 1:00 AM ET
Here we review the top five CAT-i stories covering July through September of 2016.
August 17th, 2016
Bluecut And Clayton Wildfires, California
Posted at 1:52 PM ET
The Bluecut and Clayton fires have caused significant impacts to affected areas and pose an ongoing serious threat to life and property. No serious injuries or deaths have been reported, however, the fires have destroyed multiple structures. Our first thoughts and concerns are with those directly affected by this event.
July 12th, 2016
GC Capital Ideas CAT-i Stories For First Half, 2016
Posted at 1:00 AM ET
Here are the most recent CAT-i stories covering January through June of 2016.
May 10th, 2016
Update: Fort McMurray Wildfires - Canada
Posted at 10:42 AM ET
Recent rainfall and cooler temperatures have helped to reduce spread of the wildfire that recently rendered devastating impacts to Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Nevertheless, the fire continues to grow outside the city and has now claimed 2,020 square kilometers (790 square miles), according to media reports. A general trend of cooler temperatures is expected through this week, before another warming trend next weekend.
May 4th, 2016
Fort McMurray Wildfires - Canada
Posted at 1:35 PM ET
Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada has suffered widespread and severe impacts as a result of wildfire activity. Media reports indicate that over 80,000 people have been evacuated. No serious injuries or deaths have been reported, however, the fire has destroyed homes in several neighborhoods. Our first thoughts and concerns are with those directly affected by this event.
October 26th, 2015
Guy Carpenter Examines U.S. Wildfire Risk
Posted at 3:15 AM ET
Guy Carpenter today released a new briefing that assesses wildfire risk in the United States. The briefing, U.S. Wildfire: An Ever Present Hazard, provides insight into the ongoing threat of wildfires in the U.S. as well as risk mitigation strategies and portfolio modeling for this peril.
September 15th, 2015
Valley and Butte Wildfires – United States
Posted at 2:22 PM ET
In Central and Northern California, two wildfires have consumed over 133,000 acres and destroyed at least 750 homes and ten businesses in a matter of days. The fires have altogether displaced at least 23,000, according to media sources, and a state of emergency has been declared for affected areas by Governor Jerry Brown. Nearly 6,400 firefighters have been mobilized to combat the two fires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).
June 23rd, 2014
Review Of Climate Change
Posted at 1:00 AM ET
Here we review recent GC Capital Ideas stories focused on climate change.
Guy Carpenter Asia-Pacific Climate Impact Centre Publishes New Annual Report: The Guy Carpenter Asia-Pacific Climate Impact Centre (GCACIC), a joint initiative of the City University of Hong Kong and Guy Carpenter, released its fifth annual report presenting the highlights of the GCACIC’s research activities from the past year. The report details the findings of 16 projects conducted by the GCACIC, which focus on climate problems in the Asia-Pacific region as well as on a global scale.
Third U.S. Climate Report Is Available: The White House released the Third U.S. National Climate Assessment report on May 6, 2014. The report was constructed with input of many U.S. scientists and coordinated by a cross section of U.S. interests including the energy sector.
Responding to Climate Change: It is vital for (re)insurers to consider how climate change could impact future losses. Global warming potentially poses a serious financial threat to the insurance industry with implications for catastrophe risk perception, pricing and modeling assumptions.
Climate Change: A Look into the Future: Global climate models project a best estimate of a further two to four degree (Celsius) increase in the mean temperature of the Earth by the end of this century. Although this may seem insignificant on an intuitive level, the resulting impacts are of significant concern. Sea-level rise is the most significant threat for coastal areas as a result of melting glaciers. Apart from this threat, changing weather patterns will result in drought and inland flood threats for some areas.
Global Warming: Adaptation Measures: The IPCC publications represent scientific consensus among many of the world’s top scientists (and scientific consensus is difficult to achieve). Their findings are generally consistent with the broader scientific literature.
Global Warming: Losses: Economic losses resulting from natural disasters increased from USD75.5 billion in the 1960s to USD659.9 billion in the 1990s (IPCC AR4, 2007 - Working Group II, Section 1.2.8.4). Insured losses have also increased, and “the dominant signal is of significant increase in the values of exposure” (IPCC AR4, 2007 - Working Group II, Section 1.3.8.4). Furthermore, the IPCC states that “failure to adjust for time-variant economic factors yields loss amounts that are not directly comparable and a pronounced upward trend for purely economic reasons.”
