From Rising Premiums to Strategic Shifts, It’s Clear That Climate Change is Here

While climate change is often considered a modern conversation, concerns about a changing planet have resonated for nearly two centuries.

Significant scientific breakthroughs date back to 1850 when Eunice Foote, an amateur climate scientist, discovered that heat builds up when sunlight shines on carbon dioxide in a closed space. Subsequent climate science, including the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius's 1896 publication of his prediction that changes to atmospheric carbon dioxide levels would alter the earth's surface temperature, paints a grim picture for today’s planet.?

Indeed, a steady stream of scientific evidence supports the frightening implications of climate change.

This overwhelming evidence hasn’t assuaged the cultural debate over the issue, and many people remain skeptical that climate change is real or that its implications are appropriately understood, even as the effects are more apparent than ever before.?

As the Pew Research Center recently explained, “climate change remains a lower priority for some Americans, and a subset of the public rejects that it’s happening at all.”

Collectively, 14 percent of Americans believe there is “no solid evidence” that climate change is occurring, and less than half attribute climate change to human activity.?

For the scientifically unconvinced, there is another way to understand climate change's veracity and associated risks: follow the money and troop movements.?

Insurance Companies Are Paying Out at An Alarming Rate

Climate change is wreaking havoc on the $250 billion US homeowner’s insurance market.?

The industry has incurred three consecutive years of underwriting losses, and those liabilities are rapidly escalating, totaling nearly $25 billion in the first half of 2023, which is nearly the same amount lost all of last year.?

In total, insurance losses exceeded $120 billion in 2022, a stunning total that never exceeded $50 billion before 2005.?

For insurance companies, there is a direct correlation between climate-related weather incident quantity and their payout amounts.?

According to the First Street Foundation’s 9th National Risk Assessment, “there has also been a 270 percent increase in the cost of wildfires and a 335 percent increase in the number of structures destroyed by wildfires.”

These statistics underscore the impact of wildfire management practices and indicate that wildfires occur more frequently near populated areas, impacting more people and costing insurance providers more money.?

As Todd Bevington, a managing director at the insurance broker VIU by HUB, recently told the Associated Press, “(Climate change) is a problem that is already here. I’ve never seen the market turn this quickly or significantly.”

This is bad news for insurance companies and homeowners.?

Insurance is becoming increasingly unaffordable as insurers grapple with the soaring costs of climate change-related payouts from storms, floods, and wildfires.?

Home insurance is critical for homeowners, hedging the risks associated with their most valuable assets.?

Increasingly, private insurance companies are declining to cover homes in environments with high climate risk, pushing people to what the Insurance Journal calls “insurers of last resort,” public plans that have seen enrollments double in the past five years.?

For many homeowners, these costs of home insurance will only increase. First Street estimates that the insurance costs for 25 percent of all US homes are underpriced relative to their climate risk, making it likely that insurance costs will continue to affect millions of people.?

CBS Miami reported that homeowners close to areas already impacted by climate change have seen their rates double in the past several years.

Insurance companies are science-agnostic, and data-driven. They are motivated by bottom-line realities that reveal that climate change is occurring.

Property owners in new flood or fire-prone areas are subsidizing the slow pace of climate action in the global energy and transportation sectors through increased insurance rates– costs which impacts middle-income earners most substantially.

U.S. Navy Alters Arctic Ocean Operations

The insurance industry isn’t the only place that climate skeptics can look for evidence that the planet is changing. The U.S. Navy is rapidly reconfiguring its defensive posture in response to changing climate in the Arctic Ocean.??

Communicating the magnitude of the situation, the Honorable Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Navy said, “Climate change is one of the most destabilizing forces of our time, exacerbating other national security concerns and posing serious readiness challenges.”

The melting Arctic, precipitated by global climate change, is revealing a tapestry of challenges and opportunities that beckon the attention of global powers. For the U.S. military, the Arctic is no longer just a frigid wilderness but a region of burgeoning strategic importance.?

Arctic operations were once the exclusive domain of submarines. Due to melting ice, surface ships are now entering this realm.

As sea ice retreats, the Arctic's accessibility may seem advantageous, but it simultaneously opens doors to vulnerabilities, especially amidst the shifting power dynamics involving heavyweights like Russia and China.?

With the perennial sea ice on the decline and ice boundaries ever-shifting, the geopolitical canvas of the Arctic is undergoing a profound transformation, urging nations to recalibrate their military and strategic blueprints.

Navigating the Arctic's icy waters, which remain largely an enigma for military operations, poses a unique set of challenges. The U.S., despite its naval prowess, finds itself leaning heavily on the Coast Guard's icebreaking capabilities, spotlighting an evident capability gap.?

This rapid reprioritization underscores climate change realities, requiring us to grapple with the real-world implications of scientific discovery.?

Can We Still Come Back From This?

The monetary repercussions seen within the insurance industry and the strategic shifts observed in the U.S. The Navy's Arctic operations make a compelling case for climate change realities.?

Climate change is not a looming specter of the distant future; it's a pressing reality that we are contending with now.?

However, the story isn’t over.?

Technological advancement and adopting climate tech solutions can help prevent climate change from advancing further.?

By embracing and accelerating these innovations, we have the potential to mitigate the worst of these impacts, adapt to our changing world, and create a sustainable future. Whether or not we believe in climate change, it’s clear that we must take tangible steps towards a safer, more resilient future.?

The signs are clear, and the cost of inaction is high.