by Sarah Laskow. Politicians might not believe in climate change, but insurance companies do . They track disasters, and it turns out that disasters just in the first six months of this year already cost the world more than any other year of disasters on record. The price tag for 2011 disasters reached $265 billion. Most of that cost ($210 billion) came from the tsunami in Japan. But earthquakes in New Zealand, tornadoes in the United States and flooding in Australia also contributed. Before 2011, the record-holding year for costliest disasters ever was 2005, the year Hurricane Katrina devastated the southeastern U.S. coast. Even people who don't believe in climate change should take note of this trend: You can't choose not to believe in insurance premiums, and they're going up.

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2011 climate disasters cost a record $265 billion

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