"Climate change contributed to a fivefold increase in weather-related natural disasters in North America over the past three decades, according to Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurer."

"“Nowhere in the world is the rising number of natural catastrophes more evident than in North America,” Peter Hoeppe, head of Munich Re’s Geo Risks Research unit, told reporters in Munich today. There was a four-fold gain in disasters in Asia, while the number doubled in Europe, the reinsurer said.

North America accounted for $510 billion of insured losses from weather-related catastrophes between 1980 and 2011, or 69 percent of the global total, Munich Re said in a study published today. Increases in climate change-related hazards aren’t automatically reflected in premiums, the reinsurer said."

Oliver Suess reports for Bloomberg Businessweek October 17, 2012. [2]