Frequent, expensive natural disasters are testing Europe’s ability to protect itself against the cost of global warming.
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BRUSSELS — As wildfires menaced the outer suburbs of Bordeaux and Madrid this week, Europe once more faced an uncomfortable reality: a rapidly warming planet threatens to make parts of the continent uninsurable.
The record-breaking blazes — which have forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, destroyed wildlife and threatened cities once thought immune to wildfire — are the latest in a series of climate-related natural disasters that are forcing policymakers to rethink how to handle the risk.
The answer, increasingly, is a brutal one: Either governments step in to protect citizens from soaring insurance premiums, straining public budgets; or people face being left with no protection at all when their homes are flooded or burn down.
