By: Derek Sun

A bit of sunshine makes many of us happy, like dreaming about swimming pools, the beach, and licking ice cream. But the heat can also make us aggressive, angry, and unpredictable. How?

In July 1988, one of the hottest summers in the history of the US was taking place. But another unusual thing was happening. The weather was high, but so was the crime rate. In the summer of 1988 alone, there were about 1.56 million murders, rapes, armed robberies, and assaults! Not only was 1988 a year of record-high temperatures, it was also a year of record-high crime.

In the UK, police reported that emergency calls were up by 40% in some regions where the weather was high. A Greek study said that in one region, over 30% of the 137 homicides in that year were when the day’s high temperature was over 25 degrees Celsius. And in South Africa, every degree Celsius the temperature rose, murders also increased by 1.5%.

In the Netherlands, when they experienced their hottest week since they started keeping records, a building was set ablaze, fireworks were thrown at police officers, and 27 people were arrested. “There is a caveat,” says Trevor Harley, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Dundee. “The relationship between heat and things like rioting is U-shaped. So when it becomes very hot or humid, people don’t do anything because it’s just too uncomfortable to move.”

1,320,148 suicides were recorded in 12 countries, with the summer months having more suicides. Hospitalization also increased by around 7.3% in the summer. Football players in the NFL (National Football League) were more likely to be handed down punishments, reporters were more likely to use bad language while reporting, and people were more likely to quit their jobs, all when it was hot outside!

“It is difficult to disentangle these things, because they always go together,” says Harley. “If you take suicide rates – they go up when it’s warmer and means of suicide are more available because people are outdoors… But they are highly variable across the world. Russia has one of the highest levels, and that’s probably something to do with the high levels of alcohol consumption, rather than the weather.”

With the global climate changing uncontrollably, more and more people will become victims of these summertime crimes. Most climate experts believe a temperature rise of over 3 Celsius will come, even if we meet our current climate goals.

Regardless of what causes this violent trend in the summer, we better prepare ourselves for what will happen next.

Source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658072366011x576413810495715500/The%20troubling%20ways%20a%20heatwave%20can%20warp%20your%20mind%20-%20BBC%20Future.pdf