February 06, 2012
By: Jana Bell
A recent study finds that the annual damage totals from tropical cyclones around the world will more than quadruple by the year 2100, making home insurance claims more frequent and more severe.
Research published by economists from Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say that by that year, damages from tropical systems will reach $109 billion, up from $26 billion currently. Of that total, roughly $25 billion will be sustained by the U.S.
The study says greater vulnerability will account for a $23 billion increase, while impacts from climate change, which will create more frequent stronger storms, will result in $53 billion in losses.
"With the present climate, almost 93 percent of tropical cyclone damage is caused by only 10 percent of the storms," said Robert Mendelsohn, the lead economist for the study. "Warming will increase the frequency of these high-intensity storms at least in the North Pacific and North Atlantic Ocean basins, causing most of the increase in damage."
This past hurricane season was one of the costliest ever in the U.S. There were 18 named Atlantic storms last year, which was tied for the sixth-most since forecasters began keeping track in 1851.
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- Thousands of St. Louis insurance claims cite recent hail damage May 22, 2012
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