Description: The earth’s ecosystem appears to be leaving the 10,000-year Holocene epoch that featured a stable environment. For homo sapiens, this stability encouraged a move from hunter/gatherer to farming and urban lifestyles. The new period showcases climate risk, resulting in higher temperatures and more extreme weather. These conditions lead to greater exposures to properties and economies when events like hurricanes and wildfires occur.

Description: We summarize some of the developments in corporate sustainability. The guiding principles of corporate sustainability are developed on the global stage, but implementation of these principles necessarily occurs at the individual company level. Our aim is to educate actuaries on the broad principles, point curious readers towards more research, and inspire actions that actuaries can take within their organizations to strengthen the long-term sustainability of the industries that actuaries serve.

Description: This report provides results from a recently conducted study using the AIR Wildfire Model for the United States and available climate and climate change information to estimate how climate change may influence wildfire losses to U.S. property by mid-century. The climate change conditioned catalogs were used to evaluate climate change impacts (relative change in losses) to the AIR Worldwide US Industry Exposure Database, with all factors other than area burned held constant.

Description: Actuarial Weather Extremes: February 2021

Description: This report examines monthly and daily extremes from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) monthly and daily records and associated flooding, as well as extreme wind events in the Northeast U.S. and tornado and flooding events in the Southeast U.S. These signal the changeover from extreme winter conditions to volatile spring storm conditions which have been found in the U.S.

Description: On March 31, 2022, the SOA Research Institute assembled an expert panel to discuss key considerations related to climate risk analysis applied to life and health insurance companies. The panelists were selected to represent a wide and diverse array of opinions, and were encouraged to contribute from their own, individual perspective working in areas such as insurance, reinsurance, state regulation, consultancy, meteorology, and climate finance. A summary of the main discussion points is presented in this report.

Description: On March 5, 2022, an EF-4 tornado hit Iowa and caused 6 fatalities, according to preliminary reports.1 The supercell thunderstorm that produced the destructive tornado also produced damaging wind and hail events. According to the National Weather Service, this tornado was the first EF-4 tornado in Iowa since 2013 and was the second longest tornado path since 1980, with a path length of 69.5 miles.

Description: On May 20, 2022, an EF-3 tornado hit Gaylord, Michigan and caused 2 fatalities and 44 injuries, according to the National Weather Service Damage Survey [2]. The supercell thunderstorm that produced the destructive tornado also produced damaging wind and hail up to 3 inches in diameter [3]. According to data from the National Center for Environmental Information, this tornado was the first EF-3+ tornado in Michigan since 2012 and first EF-3+ tornado in Michigan in May since 1991 [1].

Description: This report series identifies and examines weather extremes in North America and beyond. Using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), NOAA Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN), United States Geological Survey (USGS), and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) among others; the reports identify and summarize unusual or extreme single-day or multi-day weather events which are significant in an historical context. The most recent report covers the tremendous scale of Hurricane Ian as it hit Florida and the geographic range of the perils associated with the hurricane.

Description: The SOA Research Institute seeks researchers and essayists to explore the multifaceted impacts of climate risk on retirement. The desired deliverable is a resource that catalogues major related issues while providing current considerations and potential future dynamics. The intended audience for this effort is actuaries and other retirement professionals.