Rise in violence 'linked to climate change'
Rise in violence 'linked to climate change'
By Rebecca Morelle
Science reporter, BBC World Service
US scientists found that even small changes in temperature or rainfall correlated with a rise in assaults, rapes and murders, as well as group conflicts and war.
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Marshall Burke, from the University of California, Berkeley, 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."
The researchers ...report a "substantial" correlation between climate and conflict… including an increase in domestic violence in India during recent droughts, and a spike in assaults, rapes and murders during heatwaves in the US.
The report also suggests rising temperatures correlated with larger conflicts, including ethnic clashes in Europe and civil wars in Africa.
Biological root?
Mr Burke said: "We want to be careful, you don't want to attribute any single event to climate in particular, but there are some really interesting results."
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"One of the main mechanisms that seems to be at play is changes in economic conditions. We know that climate affects economic conditions around the world, particularly agrarian parts of the world. and there is lots of evidence that changes in economic conditions affect people's decisions about whether or not to join a rebellion, for example."
But he said there could also be a physiological basis, because some studies suggest that heat causes people to be prone to aggression.
"It is a major priority for future research to distinguish between what is going on in each particular situation."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23538771
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