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Violence linked to heat20130802 08:56
Washington If the heat makes you cranky, takeheart: You're not alone, according to a study outon Thursday in the US journal Science that linksrising tempers to hot temperatures.
The link could have worrying implications as theEarth's climate warms, researchers at theUniversity of California at Berkeley and PrincetonUniversity warned.
While making predictions about the future isalways iffy, lead author Solomon Hsiang said thecurrent trend is clear: Hotter weather makespeople more violent.
Hsiang and his fellow researchers conducted ametaanalysis of 60 studies across a range ofdisciplines, including archaeology, climatology,political science and economics.
One study, for instance, showed that, during thehotter and drier periods of the El Niño southernoscillation, "the probability of any country in thetropics starting a new civil war doubles".
Conflicts
Other studies showed the incidence ofinterpersonal conflicts from murder to rape todomestic violence and other types of assault goes up when it gets hot.
"We were surprised by both the consistency andthe strength" of the link, Hsiang said, explaining itwas evident no matter what timeframe was beingexamined, whether a short heat wave, a yearslong drought, or a cycle over centuries.
"We do think the overall size of the effects issufficiently large that we want to take themseriously and seriously consider whether or notour actions today are going to influence the levelof violence in our children's world tomorrow," headded.
In order to rule out other factors for the rise inviolence, the authors used a statistical analysis that compared single geographic locations tothemselves over time so that the political, cultural and geographic histories were internallyconsistent.
They also tried to compare levels of violence where the climatic factors were very localised, to seehow violence levels compared nearby where the weather stayed cooler.
In all cases, "the collected evidence shows that humans across the globe have proven poorly
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equipped to deal with exposure to hotter temperatures", colead author Marshall Burke said in astatement.
What was less clear was why, with researchers citing several theories and noting that more thanone could play a role.
Physiological effect
In times of drought or when harvests fail, economic factors might push groups to take up arms.
High unemployment tends to leave a large pool of frustrated, bored young people in cities fertilerecruiting ground for an army.
And the heat also seems to have a physiological effect that drives people to violent impulses, onethat can be observed after just a few hours of exposure.
Hsiang compared the trend to the increase of car accidents on a rainy day it doesn't mean anyone accident happened solely because it rained. Nor does it mean accidents only happen when itrains.
"Driver error ultimately causes accidents, but rain can make it much more likely," he said in thestatement.
"Similarly, violent conflicts might occur for a variety of reasons that simply become more likelywhen climatic conditions deteriorate."
AFP
Read more on: climate change
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John Smith August 2, 2013 at 23:59 Report commentComments Policy
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Nooit nie....
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Wardan Chen August 4, 2013 at 22:09 Report commentComments Policy
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Does that make Russians cool people in general?
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