By Karen Clark, President and CEO, Karen Clark & Company.

Superstorm Sandy has fuelled the debate about how climate change may be impacting hurricanes and hurricane losses. Are recent storms, such as Sandy, evidence we’re seeing more destructive hurricanes due to long term climate change or are short term climate factors influencing hurricane frequency and severity? While these questions cannot be answered definitively, this article sheds light on what the actual data suggest.The bulk of evidence suggests that current hurricane experience is consistent with past experience, and climate change has not yet influenced US hurricane activity.

While Superstorm Sandy caused large losses, these losses are not unprecedented when adjusted for demographic changes, such as increasing population and property values. If the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 occurred again today, the economic and insured losses would be twice as much as the Sandy losses. Historical hurricanes such as Carol (1954) and Donna (1960) would cause

Northeast losses comparable to Sandy.

Because major hurricanes happen infrequently but property values in coastal areas grow every year, hurricane losses increase over time in nominal terms, but not necessarily in real terms. When historical hur...Read More