Tuesday, December 14, 2010

2010 'exceptional year' for weather disasters

AFP: Catastrophic floods in Pakistan, wildfires in Russia, hurricanes in Mexico: 2010 has so far been an "exceptional" year for weather disasters, German reinsurance giant Munich Re said Thursday. "This year really has been a year of weather records," Peter Hoeppe, an expert from Munich Re's Geo Risks Research department, told journalists.

"The first nine months of the year have seen the highest number of weather-related events since Munich Re started keeping records," he added. Hoeppe added that a clear pattern of continuing global warming was contributing to the natural disasters.

2010 has so far been the warmest since measurements began 130 years ago. New temperature records were set in Russia (37.8 degrees centigrade) and in Asia (53.5 degrees in Pakistan). Only last month, a new temperature record was set in Los Angeles, with the mercury hitting 45 degrees. "It is clear that global warming is getting worse," said Hoeppe….

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