NAMIC 2014 Annual Convention

Mike and I just got back from the NAMIC 2014 Annual Convention that was held at The Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The title of Mike's presentation was Weather Trends on how weather and climate effect the insurance industry. With all the interest in global warming in the news recently, Mike brought up the subject of global warming and made it a politics free climate trend discussion based on the facts that world temps have not warmed or cooled since 1998. Mike speaks with out notes and reassured the audience that although the seas are slowing warming since 2001, they are increasing at a lower rate than first predicted.

Mike Smith

Over all, hurricanes are down and there is not upward trend at all in violent tornadoes, reminding the audience that F-5 tornadoes are quite rare. Mike is still concerned with finding better ways to communicate to the public the importance in heeding the warnings to save lives. Hurricane prediction is better than what it was 25 years ago but he added, we still need to do a better job at preparing the public. Drones could add greatly to our understanding of hurricanes but they must first be able to withstand a category 5 hurricane to prove effective. All the members of the audience were given a copy of Mike's book WARNINGS: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather.