Does weather increase the number of crime events?
Before you dismiss this article with: “how on earth could the weather affect criminal behaviour,” I ask you to read a brief abstract of an article written for the British Journal of Criminology in 1990, by Ellen G. Cohn.
In studying the causes of crime, most criminologists have concentrated on traditional
socio-
In previous bioweather forecasts, you may have read about the likelihood that someone
may become cranky or aggressive in certain weather situations. This is mostly the
case on days when it is either hot or when the so-
There is, however, one study, that also implicates pollution as a trigger for criminal behaviour.
The study argues that toxic chemicals in the atmosphere and in the water supply can affect the human neurological control mechanism and removes the natural restraints to violent urges.
Another study compared police records with temperature records. It showed that the level of crime increases linearly with an increase in temperature, in particular crimes such as domestic violence, rape, and assault. Interestingly, the same study found no link between temperature and crimes against property.
It is unclear where the study was performed, as one would think that the number of burglaries should be higher during the summer months when open windows are more likely to invite unlawful entry to homes. Open windows may not have been an issue in this study, if conducted in a cooler region.
On that matter, an article published on the website of the Canadian Medical Meteorology Network supports the theory that burglaries increase during the summer months. It also contains a summary of several studies:
Long, hot summer days see an increase in rape, murders and burglaries
more family disturbances were reported when ozone levels were high,
the incidence of assaults were positively correlated with temperature but negatively correlated with wind speed and humidity levels.
violent crimes occurred more frequently on dry days that were preceded by high temperatures and low winds
As is the case with burglaries, the temperature can only be blamed indirectly when more violence occurs due to overindulgence in alcohol during summer barbecues or parties.
Can you imagine being stuck in traffic on a hot day and without air-
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