Climate and homicide

Climate and homicide

The topic of global warming automatically leads one to think of negative consequences such as rising sea levels, ruined fishing and farming areas, and expanding deserts (Anderson and Bushman, 1998). One consequence of increasing temperatures is that of social psychological effects that are often times overlooked since the notion of increasing climate is strongly correlated with obvious pressing issues of the environment. Global change and the environment is foremost a concern that is never too short of an interest and is currently one of the greatest challenges that humanity faces. But amidst all the debates on those that are to blame while trying to find alternatives to correct and reduce the impacts of increasing climate yet find resolutions that agree and improve current policies revolving around these issues, could the climate also be affecting us on a social psychological level and possibly explain trends in violence and in criminal homicides over the years? This paper studies the relationship of climate to violence and homicides while also focusing on substitute measures such as season and geography that when taken into an overall perspective, will provide some insight and explanations into a topic that is largely neglected.
Heat Hypothesis
Anderson’s (2002) heat hypothesis states that aggressive intentions and behaviors can potentially result from hot temperatures. He further suggests that although there could be alternative explanations that could also account for the observed high numbers in aggression during high temperatures, no other evidence is sufficient enough to play a role for most such heat effects. The heat hypothesis plays a significant role in terms of applied and theoretical explanations; studies indicate evidence that the heat hypothesis is a contributor of feelings of aggression to developing models (Anderson et. al, 1995). When temperatures are high, feelings of hostility that have been mounting as a result of the increased...