Climate change, extreme weather boost supply chain risks

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SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda — Climate risks are directly connected to supply chain risks that should be identified and mitigated as extreme weather events continue to become more severe and intense and cause rising business interruption losses, experts say.

“As warm water is the fuel for hurricane intensity, the potential is for the strongest events to become more frequent,” Mark Guishard, director of corporate and community relations for the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences in St. George, Bermuda, said at the 2018 Bermuda Captive Conference in Southampton, Bermuda, on Wednesday. “As sea levels rise as well and coastal populations grow, so does the exposure of lives, livelihood and property to storm surge inundation impacts.”

“It’s worth clarifying that no one hurricane is caused by climate change,” he continued. “However, the intensity, track, size and impacts from these extreme events are influenced by changes in the background environment, which is itself being altered by climate trends. In the Atlantic basin, it’s sobering to note that economic damages from the 2017 hurricane season and overall during the 2017 year of losses have now been estimated in excess of $330 billion … and untold human suffering that continues in the Caribbean as a result.”