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The damage caused by Hurricane Michael is expected to cost billions of dollars and experts say such storms will only worsen and cost more as climate change disrupts weather conditions.
The Category 4 storm that hit Gulf Coast communities in Florida this week, killing more than a dozen people, was the third most intense storm ever recorded in the Americas.
AccuWeather estimated this week that Hurricane Michael would cause about $ 30 billion worth of damage. And the economic costs associated with Hurricane Florence, which largely affected coastal communities in the Carolinas when it touched down last month, could rise to $ 50 billion, according to an analysis of Moody's data. Analytics.
Experts say hurricanes will get worse.
"The damage is increasing because of the severity of the storms," said Nathaniel Keohane, economist and senior vice president of climate at the Environmental Defense Fund. "We can say that these impacts are worse, that these storms are more violent and that the risk of extreme consequences is more likely. This is how climate change has transformed our worlds. "
Although it is difficult to determine which storm is related to rising temperatures or warming waters, recent research indicates that climate change is affecting the strength of storm systems.
"Ten years ago, it was common to say that we can not say that a storm is due to climate change. Now, we are much better able to say what is the link, "added Keohane. "It's not that Hurricane Michael would not have happened without climate change, it would have … We know that climate change makes these storms much more devastating."
Economists say that increased intensity leads to more expensive damage.
"When we try to quantify the damage, it's the extremes that matter most in many ways," said Gernot Wagner, a research associate at Harvard University's Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. "Many normal sized storms that occur in a row are usually not as severe as a single extreme storm. The fact that the extremes increase increases the costs, even more than if the averages went up. "
In the case of recent hurricanes in the United States, the intensity and frequency have increased.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated this month that there have been 11 meteorological or climatic disasters that have caused more than $ 1 billion in damage. Hurricane Michael will likely increase this list to 12.
Earlier this week, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report warning that the world could be on the path to catastrophic climate change if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced by 2030.
Capitol Hill's Republican legislators largely ignored warnings, saying the report was politically motivated or that reducing emissions was not economically feasible. Democratic lawmakers promised to make climate change a priority issue if they recovered the House in the November mid-term elections.
A number of insurance companies are already adjusting their rates and policies to reflect the prospects of climate change.
"We are no longer discussing the issue" Is there a climate change, "said Torsten Jeworrek, reinsurance director at Munich Re, Wall Street Journal. "For us, it's a question now for our own subscription."
The federal government also provides insurance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is often the last option for victims of weather-related tragedies.
Experts say low-income households are the most affected by hurricanes and are the group most likely to rely on FEMA's public insurance.
These insurance policies are often heavily subsidized by taxpayer money, a fact that, according to Keohane, makes it all the more important for the government to plan for climate change and act for to thwart them.
"Many communities in low-lying areas will be poor communities, communities with few economic alternatives," he said. "Taxpayers are paying the bill for that, and that's one of those huge, huge hidden costs of the billions of dollars we already pay."
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