The year 2013 was not a good example of natural catastrophes caused by climate change, as the extreme weather events that did occur in this rather mild year—such as high-temperature spikes and record precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere—could have happened without climate change, according to Peter Hoppe, head of geo risks research/corporate climate center at Munich Re.

Hoppe's comment came in response to queries during Munich Re's webinar, 2013 Natural Catastrophe Year in Review, presented jointly with the Insurance Information Institute. He further says that the company's view of climate change—it has indeed been caused by a rise in greenhouse gasses over the past 10 years—is based on its own research and that of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its September 2013 assessment report.

Yet Hoppe did not attribute the nation's current deep freeze to climate change. The Polar Vortex creating dramatically low subzero temperatures across the country, while unusual, is considered a 10- or 20-year event and not an indicator of any change in overall global climate. It also does not forebode a major influx of insured losses.