# A growing crisis, mapped

Channel: Howtown
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dsT7S06I94
Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/7dsT7S06I94
Generated: 2025-07-18T17:04:34.76+00:00

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## Quick Overview

The map reveals the rate of non-renewals for homeowner's insurance across the US, indicating how the insurance industry perceives climate change risks, with higher non-renewal rates in areas prone to floods and fires like California, Florida, and the Carolinas.

**Key Points:**
- The map displays the rate of non-renewals for homeowner's insurance policies in 2023 across the United States.
- Darker red areas on the map indicate higher rates of insurance non-renewal, while lighter colors signify lower rates.
- Hotspots for non-renewals include Northern California, Florida, and the coast of the Carolinas, which are areas prone to natural disasters.
- The darkest red areas, such as parts of California and Florida, represent more than 1 in 25 policies not being renewed.
- Lighter areas like Minnesota show less than 1 in 200 homes having their insurance canceled.
- The map essentially illustrates how the insurance industry assesses and responds to climate change risks, particularly those related to floods and fires.

![Screenshot at 00:24: Map of the US showing nonrenewal rates of insurance with the title "The rate of nonrenewals of insurance".](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/7dsT7S06I94/00-00-24.png)

**Context:** The video features two individuals discussing a map of the United States. One person presents the map and asks the other to guess what it represents. The map uses a color gradient to highlight different regions, with darker shades indicating higher concentrations of whatever is being mapped. The conversation quickly shifts to identifying patterns related to natural disasters like floods and fires, leading to the reveal that the map illustrates homeowner's insurance non-renewal rates.

## Detailed Analysis

This video presents a striking visualization of how the insurance industry is responding to climate change risks across the United States. A map, sourced from the New York Times and US Senate Budget Committee data, displays homeowner's insurance non-renewal rates for 2023. The map uses a color scale where lighter shades (e.g., Minnesota) indicate very low non-renewal rates (less than 1 in 200 homes), while darker red areas (e.g., Northern California, Florida, coastal Carolinas, and even Oklahoma) show significantly higher rates, with the darkest red representing more than 1 in 25 policies not being renewed. The hosts initially guess the map relates to floods or fires, which is confirmed as the underlying reason for the insurance non-renewals. This directly illustrates how insurers are withdrawing coverage or refusing to renew policies in areas deemed high-risk due to increasing climate-related events like wildfires and floods, effectively showing the insurance industry's perspective on climate change's tangible impact on property.

### Map Introduction and Initial Guesses

- A map of the US is presented, prompting guesses about its meaning, with initial thoughts leaning towards flood-related or ocean-related phenomena.

### Identifying High-Risk Regions

- Hotspots for the mapped phenomenon are identified in Northern California, Florida, the Carolinas' coast, and surprisingly, Oklahoma, suggesting a broader pattern than just coastal risks.

### The Reveal

- Insurance Non-Renewal Rates: The map is revealed to show the rate of non-renewals for homeowner's insurance, directly linking the observed patterns to insurance companies refusing to cover properties.

### Interpreting the Color Scale

- The color gradient is explained, with light colors (e.g., Minnesota) indicating low non-renewal rates (less than 1 in 200 homes) and dark red (e.g., California, Florida) signifying high rates (more than 1 in 25 policies not renewed).

### Insurance Industry's View on Climate Change

- The video concludes by stating that the map is essentially a visual representation of how the insurance industry perceives and reacts to climate change, specifically concerning flood and fire risks.

![Screenshot at 00:00: Two people in a video call, with a map of the US between them, asking "Can you tell what this map is mapping?".](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/7dsT7S06I94/00-00-00.png)
![Screenshot at 00:05: Close-up of the US map showing hotspots in Northern California, Florida, and the Carolinas, with text "We've got hotspots".](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/7dsT7S06I94/00-00-05.png)
![Screenshot at 00:14: Close-up of the central US map, highlighting Oklahoma, with text "Is it flood related?".](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/7dsT7S06I94/00-00-14.png)
![Screenshot at 00:24: Full US map with the title "The rate of nonrenewals of insurance" displayed prominently.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/7dsT7S06I94/00-00-24.png)
![Screenshot at 00:34: Close-up of the southeastern US map, showing various shades of orange and red, with text "So everything with a color is a change for the worse".](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/7dsT7S06I94/00-00-34.png)
![Screenshot at 00:41: Close-up of the upper Midwest map, showing Minnesota in a light color, with the non-renewal rates legend (1 in 200 to 1 in 25).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/7dsT7S06I94/00-00-41.png)
![Screenshot at 00:48: Close-up of the western US map, showing dark red in California, with text "more than 1 in 25 policies not being renewed".](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/7dsT7S06I94/00-00-48.png)
![Screenshot at 00:54: Full US map with the two speakers in circular overlays, and text "a map of how the insurance industry sees climate change".](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/7dsT7S06I94/00-00-54.png)
