We touched on this earlier on, but there's a big difference between looking at an image of a melting iceberg and looking at an image of the sea encroaching upon an island. Melting ice leads to rising sea levels. That's just basic science. People and places which lay at the center of land masses aren't at risk but spare a thought for those who are. People who live on low-lying islands, for example.
Island nations and their peoples will be the first victims of rising sea levels. The effect won't be instant, so we should be able to evacuate people before a disaster happens, but their homelands will be gone forever, lost below the waves. After that, it will be coastal towns at the sea's edge. Centuries of human culture and history will be washed away because we didn't take action to stop it from happening. Right now, we still have that chance. Soon, we won't.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.