YEAR 2000 BROUGHT RECORD NUMBER OF NATURAL DISASTERS

The world was hit by a record number of natural disasters last year and global warming and rising populations are likely to make future years even worse, according to Munich Re. The reinsurer said that the number of natural disasters rose by more than 100 to 850 in 2000, although the number of deaths was much lower than in 1999 because less-populated areas were affected. Gerhard Berz, head of Munich Re’s geo-science research group, said that “global warming has to be slowed down. Otherwise the risk situation for insurers in many of the world’s regions will intensify”. Munich Re also noted that since only $7.5bn of the estimated damage caused by natural disasters in 2000 had been covered by insurance, it had been a relatively inexpensive year for underwriters. Storms accounted for 73% of all insured losses and floods for 23%. A series of forest fires in the US caused losses of more than $1bn, while dry weather and drought in Europe resulted in losses of more than $300m when a severe heat wave in May and June destroyed crops in south-east Europe, particularly in Romania. The cyclone season in the Pacific and North Atlantic produced a typical number of hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones, Munich Re said, with the countries affected coming off relatively lightly.