wrote in message
oups.com...
Jeez, if Harvard Medical School and UN Development program would just
ask BushCo and the right wing lemmings, they'd know that there isn't
such a thing as global warming.

Insurance Company Warns of Global Warming's Costs
By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Managing Editor
posted: 01 November 2005
04:34 pm ET



One of the world's largest insurers warned today of the economic costs
of global warming.

"Climate change will significantly affect the health of humans and
ecosystems and these impacts will have economic consequences,"
concludes a new study cosponsored by Swiss Re, a global re-insurance
company.

The research was done by the Center for Health and the Global
Environment at Harvard Medical School and also sponsored by the United
Nations Development Program.

Costs already rising

In the report, 10 case studies outline current effects of climate
change, from infectious diseases such as malaria and West Nile virus to
extreme weather events such as heat waves and floods. Changes to
forests, agriculture, marine habitat and water were considered.

Economic implications as well as possible near-future impacts are
projected for each case.

Lyme disease is increasing in North America as warmer winters allow
ticks to proliferate, the study concludes. Ragweed pollen growth,
stimulated by increasing levels of carbon dioxide, may be contributing
to the rising incidence of asthma, the scientists say.

Broad implications

"We found that impacts of climate change are likely to lead to
ramifications that overlap in several areas including our health, our
economy and the natural systems on which we depend," said Dr. Paul
Epstein, the study's lead author and Associate Director of the Center
for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School.
"Analysis of the potential ripple effects stemming from an unstable
climate shows the need for more sustainable practices to safeguard and
insure a healthy future."

Swiss Re is a global re-insurance company, meaning it assumes the risk
from the smaller insurance companies that individuals and businesses
deal with. It has been warning about the costs of climate change since
at least 2003.

"Whereas most discussions on climate change impacts hone in on the
natural sciences, with little to no mention of potential economic
consequences, this report provides a crucial look at physical and
economic aspects of climate change," Jacques Dubois, Chairman of Swiss
Re America Holding Corporation. "It also assesses current risks and
potential business opportunities that can help minimize future risks."


The debate is not over global warming, it is over the causes.