By Edward Murphy ( January 16, 2018, 12:50 PM EST) -- Whether you agree with former Vice President Al Gore's position from "An Inconvenient Truth," or if you believe that global warming and climate change are just a myth, there is one inescapable reality. Severe weather events and natural catastrophes are on the rise. Who can forget the images of Hurricane Katrina from 2005 or the effects of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 or the more recent devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey in August 2017? And being a Bay Area native, I was shocked by the intensity and ferocity of the recent Tubbs and Atlas Fires that occurred this past October primarily in Napa and Sonoma Counties, with the loss of over 40 lives, and with 10,000 fire fighters involved.[1] This was to be closely followed by the Thomas Fires burning out of control in Southern California in Ventura County in December with other fires around Los Angeles. Not only do these severe weather events cause untold harm to those caught within their path, but they pose an ongoing dilemma for insurance companies....