That's the howl coming from Allstate, who, in this post "Allstate blames global warming for rate hike ", when asked why they were asking for a 42% premium hike in Florida, said "Global Warming"*.
We had the Lloyd's story yesterday: Lloyd's of London profit up after few catastrophes, but The Guardian tips us to potential tragedy:
Lloyd's of London warned yesterday that an absence last year of natural disasters or man-made accidents was putting pressure on firms to reduce premiums in 2008.That's the second Guardian headline that caught my eye today, a third would make 'em reader/RSS worthy.
*Okay, the exact quote was:
"It's my professional opinion and others at Allstate, it appears that the increase in sea surface temperatures and the near term effect of hurricanes is something that is real and is a need that we need to consider for the protection of our insurers," said Allstate Floridian's Ryan Michel.which appears to be in direct conflict with this story from NPR:
The Mystery of Global Warming's Missing Heat
Some 3,000 scientific robots that are plying the ocean have sent home a puzzling message. These diving instruments suggest that the oceans have not warmed up at all over the past four or five years. That could mean global warming has taken a breather. Or it could mean scientists aren't quite understanding what their robots are telling them....MOREIn the meantime, when snot-nosed kids ask me "Why do you write like a 'tard?" I shall respond, "Global Warming".
