IOWA CITY, Iowa ( IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH ) - Scientists from universities across Iowa urge a shift to more renewable energy sources and updated building standards to cope with insurance premiums that are mounting due to a changing climate.

Nearly 180 researchers and educators signed the 2025 Iowa Climate Statement, released Monday, which points to rising temperatures and “destructive” weather events as key drivers of rising insurance premiums.

Global temperatures in the past decade have been the hottest 10 years of the past 175 years, according to research cited in the statement. These rising temperatures, combined with the expectation that patterns of drought and flooding will persist, will continue to cause growing insurance costs, according to the statement.

Peter Thorne, University

See Full Page