Waves of severe thunderstorms in the U.S. during the first half of this year led to $34 billion US in insured losses, an unprecedented level of financial damage in such a short time, according to Swiss Re Group, as climate change contributes to the frequency and severity of violent meteorological events.
Damages from convective storms in the U.S., those that can come with hail, lightning, heavy rain and high winds, accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the $50 billion US in global catastrophic damages so far this year, the reinsurer said Wednesday. Those global figures include earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
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