That's what a lot of people call former Vice President Al Gore. Then he won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Oh, how times are changing! Could this catapult him back into contention for the White House? Only time will tell.
Statistics show that half the U.S. population lives in what can be defined as coastal areas. We're not just talking about Florida, the East Coast, Gulf Coast, and West Coast. There are major metropolitan areas of the Midwest located on the Great Lakes, such as Chicago and Cleveland. If you watch the movie, you'll understand why the Great Lakes are a major part of the overall scenario.
Then we can expand to the international arena, where other major cities are in jeopardy. The bottom line is that there will be very few areas of the planet unaffected by global warming. That includes the economy, in general, and the insurance industry, in particular.
An Inconvenient Truth is difficult to watch. More accurately, it's scary. I was hoping to pick up a no-brainer on a Sunday afternoon, some film noir with great, well-known quotes like, “I'd kiss you, but I just washed my hair,” or “Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!” But no, I got Al Gore and, as I said above, it was riveting yet frightening.
What is he trying to tell us here? Are we all so stupid that we can't see the signs of what's facing our world over the next 50 years? What our children and grandchildren will be facing? The statistics are disturbing, and he backs it all up with a lot of well-grounded facts and figures. The really scary part is the fact that the United States is not leading the charge to correct the situation. Canada and Europe are far ahead of us.
Neither is the insurance industry at the forefront. And what does this boil down to for us? Well, we have to go to our leadership to answer that question. Do we have the clout to insist on changes at various effective levels to ensure that we can meet these global warming challenges? They're not just going to go away or correct themselves. If current trends continue, ice caps are not going to stop melting. And all of that rising water has the potential to destroy coastal cities. Do we have the clout to “make it happen” and save our industry from cataclysmic consequences, or will we sit back and do nothing?
As members of the adjuster communities throughout the industry, as vocal associations who can see the light, who have the forethought and forbearance to look ahead, we must look at our insurance industry leaders for some answers. Or at least hope they start asking the right questions.
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