A Climate of Violence?

Rambo Tribble writes "U.S. researchers have come to the conclusion that a changing climate can drive increased violence in human society. Their findings are to reported in Science (abstract). 'They report a "substantial" correlation between climate and conflict. Their examples include an increase in domestic violence in India during recent droughts, and a spike in assaults, rapes and murders during heatwaves in the U.S. The report also suggests rising temperatures correlated with larger conflicts, including ethnic clashes in Europe and civil wars in Africa.' Marshall Burke, one of the authors, said, 'This is a relationship we observe across time and across all major continents around the world. The relationship we find between these climate variables and conflict outcomes are often very large.' Add this to the developing scarcity of water due to global warming and the prospects for a peaceful future do not bode well."

Comments

Stereotypes

[i kan reed]

Can't this explain the South and the Middle East all in one fell swoop?

Yes it can! But only if you're willing to be intellectually lazy and refuse to acknowledge multi-input systems. Today, I'm feeling exactly that lazy.

Duh, it's called stress.

[Anonymous Coward]

Just like anything else that causes stress, it causes people to get upset and lash out.

Obligatory

[Sponge Bath]

It's not the heat, it's the humanity.

Opposite trend in US

[Tony Isaac]

In the US, violent crime rates have been decreasing for decades, while temperatures have been breaking records.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-1

Climate does not change that fast

[SuperKendall]

New Orleans had to be evacuated in days.

With climate change, you are talking about sea levels rising an inch or two per DECADE. Or heat / cold profiles of an area changing also over decades. Plenty of time for people to move on if they decide they don't like whatever changes are occurring.

But most people will stay, no matter what particular climate you find "unlivable" you'll find plenty of people already living in those conditions...

Re: Weird

[icebike]

The study is weak at including other factors, such as population concentration density in its analysis. Population concentration has increased in lock step with Global Warming, and indeed density may be a key part in warming. Further, density has a much more readily measured correlation with violence. (That is you can measure the correlation it statistically in the modern era, without having to rely on sketchy records of the past).

There is still the competing theory of Tetraethyl lead, which explains not only the rise in violence, but also the recent DECLINE in violence, which the warming theory doesn't even address.

Leaded gasoline has a remarkable correspondence to violent behavior, lowered IQ, and more so in men than women. There is a 23 year lag, in the correlation. Some areas where leaded gasoline is still used correspond to the trouble spots of the world.

And yes, it goes without saying, that correlation does not imply causation, something lost in translation in the mainstream press in their rush to pin yet another evil thing onto Climate Change.