extreme weather News

Report: Southeast States Unprepared for Future Risks from Climate Change

Many states across the country, particularly in the Southeast, are unprepared to face the risks posed from extreme heat, drought, wildfires, inland flooding, coastal flooding and other extreme weather events, according to a new report card from the States at …

Disaster Loans Offered to West Virginia Businesses Impacted by Weather

Small businesses in West Virginia that have been impacted by bad weather may be able to get financial assistance from the federal government. The U.S. Small Business Association says economic injury disaster loans are available for certain small businesses, small …

States Graded ‘A’ to ‘F’ for Extreme Weather Preparedness

Many states across the country are unprepared to face the risks posed extreme heat, drought, wildfires, inland flooding, coastal flooding and other extreme weather events, according to a new report card. Only a small number of states – Alaska, California, …

With El Nino Warming, Talk Turns to Cool La Nina

Just because the weather-roiling El Nino in the Pacific Ocean is still months from peaking, it doesn’t mean it’s too early to talk about La Nina. La Nina, sometimes thought of as El Nino’s opposite number, is a cooling of …

China Faces Severe Threats From Climate Change: Beijing-Based Meteorologist

Chinese officials don’t usually go into detail on the challenges that climate change poses for the world’s most populous and largest carbon-emitting country. But in a speech on March 23, a top meteorologist warned of the severe risks facing China, …

Attribution Science, Extreme Weather and Why They Matter

There is a love-hate relationship with the word “new.” It’s used far too often, but without it as a preface some of us don’t bother to pay attention to what’s coming next. A “new task” scientists have grappled with in …

New York Requires State Agencies to Consider Extreme Weather

New York state agencies are required to consider the future likelihood of extreme weather in their decisions on public works projects, industrial and commercial permits and regulations, according to a new law signed Monday. For New York, those calculations include …

S&P Report Warns Reinsurers Not to Ignore Global Impact of Climate Change

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has announced the publication of its annual “Global Reinsurance Highlights” to coincide with the 2014 Reinsurance Rendezvous in September. S&P said the forthcoming report “will provide a detailed perspective on the market, focusing on the …

Nationwide Mutual P/C Felt Pain of June Storms

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.’s property/casualty arm performed solidly in the 2014 second quarter, despite the Polar Vortex and major storm activity that hampered earnings over the first six months of the year. The Ohio-based privately-held mutual insurer booked more than …

S&P Report Concludes Re/Insurers Have ‘Coped Well So Far’ with Climate Change

A report – “Are Insurers Prepared For The Extreme Weather Climate Change May Bring?” – from Standard & Poor’s notes that “whether or not a direct result of climate change, the number and frequency of extreme weather events have increased, …