Global Warming The 9 Most Vulnerable Cities

The changes associated with global warming are increasing the risk of flooding in coastal cities. The rise in sea levels has been leading to saltwater intrusion and infrastructure damage from storm surges. Intensifying rainfall events elevate the risk of urban flooding. At the same time, urban populations are growing, and the value of economic investments in cities is skyrocketing. Further complicating the situation, many coastal cities are experiencing subsidence, which is a lowering of the ground level. It often occurs because of extensive draining of wetlands and heavy pumping of aquifer water. Using all these factors, the following cities have been ranked in order of average expected economic losses from climate change induced flooding. 9 Most Vulnerable Cities Guangzhou, China. Population: 14 million. Located on the Pearl River Delta, this booming south China city has an extensive transportation network and a downtown area located right on the banks of the estuary.Miami, United States. Population: 5.5 million. With its iconic row of high-rise buildings right on the water’s edge, Miami is certainly expected to feel the sea level rise.  The limestone bedrock on which the city sits is porous, and saltwater intrusion associated with rising seas is damaging foundations. In spite of Senator Rubio’s and Governor Scott’s denial of climate change, the city has recently addressed it in its planning efforts and is exploring ways to adapt to higher sea levels.New York, United States. Population: 8.4 million, 20 million for the entire metropolitan area. New York City concentrates a phenomenal amount of wealth and a very large population right at the mouth of the Hudson River on the Atlantic. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy’s dama ging storm surge overtopped floodwalls and caused $18 million in damage in the city alone. This renewed the city’s commitment to step up preparation for increased sea levels.  New Orleans, United States. Population: 1.2 million. Famously sitting below sea level (parts of it are, anyway), New Orleans is continuously fighting an existential struggle against the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River. Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge damage prompted significant investments in water control structures to protect the city from future storms.Mumbai, India. Population: 12.5 million. Sitting on a peninsula in the Arabian Sea, Mumbai receives phenomenal amounts of water during the monsoon season and has an outdated sewer and flood control systems to deal with it.Nagoya, Japan. Population: 8.9 million. Heavy rainfall events have become much more severe in this coastal city, and river floods are a major threat.Tampa – St. Petersburg, United States. Population: 2.4 milli on. Spread around Tampa Bay, on the Gulf side of Florida, much of the infrastructure is very near sea level and particularly vulnerable to rising seas and storm surges, particularly from hurricanes.Boston, United States. Population: 4.6 million. With a lot of development right on the shores and relatively low sea walls, Boston is at risk of severe damage to its infrastructure and transportation systems. The impact of Hurricane Sandy on New York City was a wake-up call for Boston and improvements to the city’s defenses against storm surges are being made.Shenzhen, China. Population: 10 million. Located approximately 60 miles further down the Pearl River estuary from Guangzhou, Shenzhen has a dense population concentrated along tidal flats and surrounded by hills. This ranking is based on losses, which are highest in rich cities like Miami and New York. A ranking based on the losses relative to the cities Gross Domestic Product would show a predominance of cities from developing countries. Source Hallegatte, Stephane. Future flood losses in major coastal cities. Nature Climate Change volume 3, Colin Green, Robert J. Nicholls, et al., Nature, August 18, 2013.

The History of the Term Academy Explained in “Academies...

The article â€Å"Academies of Art; Past and Present† by Nikolaus (1973) encompasses the history of academies in general. Beginning from the Plato’s time, the term â€Å"academy† has changed its connotations. The writing style is eloquent, yet covers the developments on the topic in every era. The writer used the article as a prologue for the reader to understand the term â€Å"academy† in order to make sense of the forthcoming chapters of the book. As the term had varied meanings, its reference in each century has different meanings and background. This summary consists of the description of the article, comments and discussion on the writing style and author’s arguments in the article. The author has discussed the evolution of the term â€Å"academy† in the†¦show more content†¦Meanwhile, Renaissance and Antiquity became a synonym of university, which was used alternatively as its Latin translation ‘academy’. As Renaissance was over and was taken over by Mannerism in art, academies became more loose and informal and grew in number in Italy. Since 1540 even the associations liked to call themselves academies, which further made the understanding of its connotation complex. In Rome the academy found by Queen Christina changed the notion further as it became center of activities like reading and criticizing poetry, literature, performing drama and comedy plays. The author focused the meanings of academy getting broader. Feastings organized by peasants, lecturing, discussions and research by scholars were added aims to the academies in Italy. However the term was never used for the entire university or a school. In schools academies were re ferred as groups of students tutored privately by some noblemen. This spread in the use of academies affected the art abundantly after the Mannerism took over. Artists started to specialize in various genre of art i.e. still life, folk life, water color etc. in contrast with Renaissance academies the Mannerism academies were organized, with elaborated rules. The history of the term academy is important, as the writer emphasized, in order to

HIH Scandal free essay sample

HIH was originally found in 1968 by Ray Williams, then was acquired by British company CE Health PLC in 1971, and renamed as HIH in 1995. Before its collapse, HIH was the second largest insurance company in Australia, and covered several insurance segments, including workers compensation, public and private liability, property, industrial and commercial insurance. It also expanded globally into the US and UK markets. On March 15, 2001, HIH insurance was placed into provisional liquidation. The liquidator estimated that the total loss of HIH are up to $A5. 3 billion as the results of over-optimistic valuations of assets and extensive under-estimation of liability, which represented as the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history. Event leading to failure 1993-1994 CE Health Commences operated in UK and entered workers compensation underwriting market in California, USA. 1995- 1997 HIH expanded their business rapidly through several merge and acquisition, including CIC insurance, Utilities Insurance. It became to the Australias largest underwriter of bancassurance business after acquiring Colonial Mutual General Insurance at January 8, 1997. We will write a custom essay sample on HIH Scandal or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 1998 HIH blacklisted stockbroking analyst who disputed it assessment of the company at Sep. 2008 In January, HIH won a $A300 million takeover bid for FAI Insurance; later HIH admitted it paid more than it expected for FAI, which is estimated to be only worth $A100 million In March, HIH posts a 39 per cent fall in 1998 net profit at $37. 6 million, blaming damage claims. In July, a routine external audit by Arthur Andersen fails to raise the alarm. The regulators and others accept the companys declaration with $939 million in asset. Two months later, HIH sells part of its domestic personal lines business to German Insurance giant Allianz for about $A 500 million. A day after the deal, HIH shares tumble to an all-time low after lower-than -expected profit results announcement and criticism of the Allianz deal. 2000 December, Ray Williams resigns as managing director with a $A5 million severance agreement. Rodney Adler, former FAI chief, is called for resignation. February, HIHs December financial statement overdue at Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). The Australian Securities Investments Commission ( ASIC) concerns that company might no longer be solvent 2001 March 15, 2001 HIH is forced into provisional liquidation by ASIC with losses of $800 million. ASIC launches its biggest ever investigation, seizing HIH documents. The liquidator revises deficiency between $A 3. 6 billion and $A 5. 3 billion, which becomes called Australias largest corporate collapse 2005 April 14, 2005 Former HIH director Rodney Adler was sentenced for four and half year jail for four criminal charges, which included: Two counts of disseminating information knowing it was false One counts of obtaining money by false or misleading statement One count of being intentionally dishonest and failing to discharge his duties as a director in good faith and in the best interest of the company. HIH insurance is now in run-off, which may take over 10 year to complete. Shareholders may lose their entire capital. The Falling of HIH Insurance According to an American report, the HIH insurance company’s failures are attributed to rapid expansion business strategy, unsupervised delegation of authority, underpricing, reserve problems, false reports, reckless management, fraud, greed and self-dealing. Many of HIHs business difficulties can be primarily due to its aggressive expanded business strategies. Over a decade, HIH created more than 200 subsidiaries, and the business covers almost all insurance business segments, domestically and globally. It either entered the insurance market  that is already overcrowded and competitive by offering lower insurance premium (California, US), or chose a sector that it did not fully understand which lead to business issues and legal risks (London, UK). On the other hand, the due diligence failure exacerbated the situation. HIH acquire some troubled insurance business with too high price during its rapid growth period in 1990s. The most controversial acquisition is that pays $A 3 00 million to buy FAI from Rodney Adler, who later became a member of HIHs board of director. FAI was revealed only to be worth $A 100 millions later. HIH also has many fundamental problems, such as underpricing and reserve problem. It offers insurance with very low price, but failure to set aside enough capital to cover it future liability. According to press reports, HIHs actuarial adviser had warned HIHs risk management concern a year before company collapse. However, instead of adding extra capital, HIH chose to buy reinsurance to lay off its risk. It was proved as wrong decision on June 2000 since all reinsurance cover was run out. Further more, the HIHs failure is not only attributed to the business strategy and fundamental problem, but also includes additional issues in conjunction with risk reporting, corporate governance, fraud, external auditing and regulation. Along with companys collapse, it was found that three of HIHs board members in 2000 are previously employed by Arthur Andersen, who is the external auditor of HIH. It has raised huge issues for the reliance of the information provided by company and their auditors. ERM Lesson Learned from HIH failure It is not surprising to hear of insurance companies failure in entering new market, in overpaying in mergers and acquisitions, in mispricing and in being undercapitalized, but it may be rarely found in such a large scandal of HIH. It is a typical case of lack of ERM practice, which leads HIH primarily exposure on systematic risk and operational risk. If possible, we believer two key component of ERM practice can largely help company to reduce those risk exposure, corporate governance and line management. From the ERM perspective, setting corporate governance can ensure senior  management establishing appropriate organizational process and executing risk management across the company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act also provides both specific requirement and severe penalties for noncompliance with newly established governance and disclosure standards. If there is corporate governance setting up for HIH, it will reduce the potential operational risk, such as unsupervised delegation of author ity, reckless management, fraud, greed and self-dealing. Add paragraph on strong compliance and internal audit. ERM suggests setting up line management aligning business strategy with corporate risk policy, measuring capital required to execute business strategies such as when pursuing new business and growth opportunities or in acquisitions. Specifically in HIH case, if line management is set up to evaluate risk acceptance criteria when considering new product and market opportunities, and to develop formal transaction and business review processes during due diligence, it will allow company to better understanding those risk at initial stage, and further reduce underpricing risk and due diligence risk.