Rise in violence 'linked to climate change' (BBC)
By Rebecca Morelle
Science reporter, BBC World Service
Shifts in climate are strongly linked to increases in violence around the world, a study suggests.
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.
The team says with the current projected levels of climate change, the world is likely to become a more violent place.
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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 looked at 60 studies from around the world, with data spanning hundreds of years.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23538771
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2013/07/31/science.1235367