IIS Issues a “Global Warning”

Recently, the International Insurance Society shared an article describing the crisis our planet is in with regards to global warming. As most people are aware, 2016 was the hottest year since 1880 and the trend seems to be continuing. The planet has now had three consecutive years of record-breaking heat. Temperatures over the Earth’s continents and oceans in 2016 were 1.1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial average. That means we are already a majority of the way to the 1.5-degree warming goal set at the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015.

Climate scientists say greenhouse gas pollution, which humans are creating primarily by burning fossil fuels and chopping down rainforests, likely contributed to the 2016 record. This pollution certainly is behind the long-term trend toward global warming. Two key climate change indicators, global surface temperatures and Arctic sea ice extent, have broken numerous records through ground-based observations and satellite data.

2016 was one for the record books in many ways, one of which were the natural disasters that hit regions around the world. The year started off with winter storm Jonas, called ‘The Storm of the Century’ by some, when a record amount of snow pummeled much of the Northeast and left 48 people dead. In early February, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan. California had a brutal summer of wildfires, with hundreds of homes destroyed and hundreds of thousands of acres burned.

YK Center’s founder Professor Yehuda Kahane has be speaking at length for a number years about the global warming crisis and what we can do as the human race to try and save our planet. In 2011, Professor Kahane was awarded the John S. Bickley Founder’s Award by the ISS. The award honors individuals who have made a significant and lasting contribution to insurance thought, product, practice, or education. In addition, Professor Kahane spoke at the 2012 IIS Conference in Rio de Janeiro, discussing his call to action for individuals in the global insurance community.

For the full article, CLICK HERE.