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H1 natural catastrophes pegged at $34 billion

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First-half insured natural catastrophe losses of $34 billion are in line with previous years, but the effects of climate change are becoming more evident, Munich Re reported.

The reinsurer’s figures show that the first half saw lower natural disaster losses than the same period last year. Floods, earthquakes and storms caused overall losses of $65 billion, compared with $105 billion in the loss-heavy first half of 2021.

Floods in Australia saw the highest insured losses at $3.7 billion. But the U.S. dominated the figures with $28 billion of economic losses and $19 billion of insured losses. Europe, meanwhile, suffered extreme heat, wildfires and drought on top of winter storms.

Torsten Jeworrek, member of the board of management at Munich Re, said the first half was dominated by weather-related catastrophes.

Commercial Risk Europe is a sister publication of Business Insurance. More stories from CRE here.

And Ernst Rauch, chief geo and climate scientist at Munich Re, said this year’s losses highlight the growing impact of climate change.

“They may all be individual events with different causes, but taken together, one thing is becoming extremely clear: The powerful influence of climate change is becoming ever more evident, and the consequences for people across the world are becoming ever more palpable,” he said.

“The (United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has made an even clearer diagnosis, stating that weather-related disasters such as heatwaves, torrential rainfall or droughts on a warmer Earth will increase in both frequency and intensity,” he said. “Heatwaves will tend to last longer and bring more extreme temperatures. This will differ from region to region. In Europe, it will be the south that is hit hardest.”