As the planet warms, heat waves and hot days will become more common. This is dangerous for your health. As we said in a previous postheat can also cloud your brain and lead to poor decisions.
It can also kill or injure you due to the poor decisions of others.
In a study by the World Bank Group, Bearer and Bolotny (2024) examined administrative criminal records from Texas along with weather data and found that arrests increased by up to 15 percent on hot days. The effect was accompanied by an increase in violence crime. That is, thieves do not choose hot days more than cold days to commit bribery, and thieves do not go out more when the weather is hot. Conversely, people are more likely to resort to unplanned and involuntary violence when the temperature is high. As Behrer and Bolotny found, higher income and newer housing counteract these effects, likely because both factors are associated with access to air conditioning and better cooling strategies.
In other studies, Blakeslee et al. (2021) used data from 600 police stations in India between 2011 and 2016, along with daily weather records, to examine the relationship between crime and temperature. They found that violent and nonviolent crimes, including violence against women and ethnic violence, responded to daily and seasonal temperature changes. Violent crimes are more common on warmer days, but violent crimes are more common during warmer weather at any point in the day. Property crimes, such as burglary, showed seasonal variation, but no correlation with daytime temperatures.
In the heat of the moment
Many other studies have come to similar conclusions. Heat increases non-property crimes more than property crimes, and it has a significant impact on violent crimes and crimes of passion.
This is not surprising. As in previous postwhen the temperature is too high, your body tries to cool you down, which, at the risk of oversimplifying a complex subject, can disrupt blood flow to the brain and cause misbehavior. Kai decision making is vulnerable intuition and impulses tend to take over.
It’s perfectly normal to feel frustrated or even angry if things don’t go your way. Being an active member of society does not require suppressing all emotional reactions. It should be controlled and not overreacted. When impulses strike, more and more people overreact and become physical after even the slightest slight, real, perceived, or imagined.
To go out
The simplest explanation for the correlation between high temperatures and violent crime is that heat disrupts impulse control, thereby increasing the intensity of the moment. aggression. But the picture is more complex.
Cohen and Gonzalez (2024) administrative records, surveys of unreported crime, and daily weather reports to study the relationship between temperature and crime in Mexico. They found that for every 1 ° C increase in temperature, criminal charges increase by 1.78 percent even at comfortable temperatures. As in many other studies, the effects are stronger for violent crimes, including homicide. sex crimes and family violence.
Cohen and Gonzalez also found that part of the increase in violent crime on hot days is due to changes in the way people spend their time. When the weather is hot, people spend more time outdoors. Since most violent crimes occur outside of the victim’s home, part of the increase is simply a matter of exposure and opportunity. For example, the effect of temperature on crime is much stronger on weekends than on weekdays, when people have more freedom about where to spend their time.
There is another factor. When the weather is hot, people drink more fluids than they should. But they also drink more alcoholwhich further degrades impulse control. In Cohen and Gonzalez’s data, approximately 29 percent of all weather-related crimes were committed by offenders under the influence of alcohol.
Beware of hot days
As in previous postheat can cloud your judgment. It can also cloud the judgment of those around you. Even if you stay calm and in control, on a hot day, it’s more likely that you’ll end up in a situation that could be better avoided.
First, be aware of the characteristics of others. No one is completely sane and the heat doesn’t help. Give people space, ignore, not escalate, and stay cool.
Second, think carefully about where you are placing yourself. A hot day may not be the best time to explore an unfamiliar neighborhood or one where alcohol flows freely. When in doubt, stick to public spaces with visible security (and AC).
Third, check yourself. If you have a short temper sometimes, try harder on hot days. Keep cool, drink water, stay in the shade. It will be your countrymen and probably the people closest to you grateful.
