World Map of Natural Hazards

Munich Reinsurance Company

When Munich Reinsurance Company’s (Munich Re) geoscientists first published the “World Map of Natural Hazards” in 1978, they laid the foundation for what was to become a global standard reference work for the risk management of natural hazards in the insurance industry. In 2009, the fourth version of the work appeared as a wall map and in digital form. Since publishing the DVD version, Globe of Natural Hazards, Munich Re has made 50,000 copies available to clients, media representatives, scientists, and the public.

Globe of Natural Hazards opens a new avenue in risk communication. The global natural hazard maps are presented on this multimedia DVD against the background of a satellite image globe. New features include the representation of the hazard complexes of hailstorms, tornadoes, winter storms, and coastal hazards. Flood risk is visualized for the first time in selected countries, which has not been possible before due to its enormous complexity. For easier orientation, the user can zoom in to any point in the world or search in a comprehensive database with more than 800,000 locations and cities.

The incorporation of the topic areas of climate change and El Niño/La Niña is another completely new feature, with various climate-change maps (precipitation, temperature, heat waves, droughts) and climate projections integrated for the first time. Knowledge points also indicate the regions of the world in which risk is likely to change in the future.

Courtesy of Munich Reinsurance Company.

Map Book Page [PDF]