Well, you can listen to the insurance industry, or you can listen to the climate scientists at the IPCC. Specifically pages 6 & 7 in this report: http://ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/images/uploads/SREX-SPMbrochure_FINAL.pdf (note the words “low confidence” and “Long-term trends in economic disaster losses adjusted for wealth and population increases have not been attributed to climate change, but a role for climate change has not been excluded”)
My confidence in AGW comes from the laws of physics, not the claims of insurance companies. As an insurer changing its policy, it’s easier to point to global warming than to admit you underestimated risks that were there all along. There’s a lack of good data when it comes to extreme weather events, so the underestimation is understandable. This is also why it’s tempting to look to the insurance companies for metrics of extreme weather, because there isn’t much else.
Is global warming hurting the insurance industry? Maybe.
Should we stop building without foresight in disaster-prone areas? Definitely.
