Heat goes on climate for disaster costs

Stuff NZ
"But Auckland University school of environment associate professor Dr Chris de Freitas rejected the link between the insurance claims and climate change.

"Put it this way, there's no evidence to link it to human-caused climate change. None at all. It's in the insurance companies' interests to promote information like this because it provides a basis for relying more on insurance, and a basis for keeping premiums up." De Freitas said the increase in insurance claims in Australasia was mainly because more people were living in weather-vulnerable coastal areas than 30 years ago.

"The value of those properties is increasing, so you'd expect higher insurance costs. The thing to keep in mind is climate is never constant. It's always getting colder or warmer, wetter or drier."