Climate Change and Disaster Losses Workshop
May 22nd, 2006Posted by: Roger Pielke, Jr.
With Munich Re, we are co-organizing a workshop this week outside of Munich that will bring together experts from around the world to deal with two questions:
The economic costs of weather-related disasters have increased dramatically in recent decades. However, experts disagree about the reasons for this increase. Some think that the trend can be explained entirely by the ever-growing numbers of people and value of property in harms way. Others think that human-caused climate changes have led to more frequent and intense weather events and therefore account for some part of the increased damage.
We are organizing a workshop to bring together experts from around the world to address the following two questions:
1. According to the research currently available, what factors account for the increased costs of disasters in recent decades?
2. And what are the implications of these understandings, for both research and policy?
Participants have been selected not only because they can bring value to the discussion, but because they bring to the workshop different answers to these questions. Our goal is not to reach a complete consensus, but what one member of the Workshop Organizing Team appropriately called a “consensus dissensus” – agreement on areas where there is remaining disagreement, the research necessary to resolve those differences, and the significance for research and action.
The Workshop is sponsored by Munich Re, GKSS Research Centre, the Tyndall Centre, and the U.S. NSF.
We expect to produce a report and a paper for publication on the workshop. Meantime those interested in learning more can access a library that we have started to put together with literature relevant to the discussion. If you would like to suggest additions to the workshop, we would be happy to add them.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:25 am
Roger
Here is a google-list of media headlines triggered by NOAA’s hurricane prediction:
http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2006/may06/noaa06-r254.html
There seems to be quite a lot to pick from …
Enjoy!
http://news.google.co.uk/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn&ncl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5005806.stm
‘Above normal’ hurricanes in 2006
BBC News, UK – 39 minutes ago
NOAA Expects Below Average 2006 East Pacific Hurricane Season
Yahoo! News – 58 minutes ago
Ten Hurricanes May Strike Atlantic in 2006 Season Bloomberg – 34 minutes ago
Four to Six Major Hurricanes To Form in 2006, NOAA Predicts
Wall Street Journal, NY – 44 minutes ago
2006 hurricane forecast: 8-10 storms
MSNBC – 1 hour ago
Hurricane center predicts 4-6 major storms
Seattle Post Intelligencer – 47 minutes ago
NOAA: North Atlantic could see 10 hurricanes this season
CNN – 1 hour ago
Experts predict 16 named storms
The Associated Press
May 22nd, 2006 at 5:05 pm
Look forward to your blogs from the workshop, Roger, assuming you have time to be online and keep us informed.