A New Worry for Insurers

Firms Looking at Whether Climate Change Could Affect Their Bottom Lines

By Dean Starkman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 5, 2005; Page D01

The devastation and cost of Hurricane Katrina provided a new hook for a faction of the insurance industry that is trying to raise public awareness of global warming and push the topic onto the political agenda.

Some of the industry's largest companies have sided with environmental groups in recent years to argue that global warming exists and that man-made causes are adding to the severity and cost of natural catastrophes.