Summary/Abstract
In this peer-reviewed study, published in Environmental Research, the authors discuss the impact of climate change on interpersonal violence. This study first identifies a number of pathways through which climate change directly and indirectly affects interpersonal violence. Direct pathways include weather-induced irritability, changes to routine behavior, negative emotions, mental health, and substance abuse, while indirect pathways include climate-related pressures on economic activity, inequality, and resource scarcity. Then, the study uses panel data of 140 countries and regions from 2000 to 2019. The authors find that hot and wet extremes precipitated increase in homicide rates globally, and that this pattern shows a significantly heterogeneous effect — poor countries and regions with relatively small contributions to climate change are particularly sensitive to climate extremes. The authors argue that these findings elucidate a strong climate-violence link, helping explain implications of facilitating violence prevention and mitigating climate change.