June 2015

On June 27, 2015, a severe thunderstorm struck the small town of Roseisle, Manitoba, just over an hour’s drive southwest of Winnipeg. Hail was reported to be tennis ball–sized and accompanied by winds of 100 km/h (62 mph).

Since 2012, 1,321 cases and 466 deaths associated with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) have been reported, mainly in Saudi Arabia. But little attention was paid due to the disease's low transmission between humans and relatively low case counts.

In 2011, a record was set for insured losses from severe thunderstorms. In all, more than USD 26 billion of losses left insurance companies wondering if they had underestimated nature's potential or—more importantly—if we were in the midst of a fundamental shift in the distribution of severe thunderstorm risk.

Fracking and the injection of waste water from oil extraction into disposal wells are hot topics at the moment. The principal concerns are their possible human health and environmental impacts, particularly "man-made earthquakes."

Imagine you insure a set of locations spread out over an area. If you take a circle (radius of your choosing) and float it over a map of the region, at which point does it encompass the highest total accumulated exposure value? 

Worldwide, only four heat waves have been blamed for more deaths than the one currently being experienced in India, which is now associated with the loss of about 2,500 lives and is the second deadliest in the nation’s history.

The torrential rainfall across the southern Plains states on May 25 and 26 led to extensive and devastating flooding and to the tragic loss of at least 19 lives.