Should climate change trigger the upsurge in heat and rainfall that scientists predict, people may face a threat just as perilous and volatile as extreme weather — each other.
Researchers from Princeton University and the University of California-Berkeley report in the journal Science that even slight spikes in temperature and precipitation have greatly increased the risk of personal violence and social upheaval throughout human history. Projected onto an Earth that is expected to warm by 2 degrees Celsius by 2050, the authors suggest that more human conflict is a likely outcome of climate change.
The researchers analyzed 60 studies from a number of disciplines — including archaeology, criminology, economics and psychology — that have explored the connection between weather and violence in various parts of the world from about 10,000 BCE to the present day. During an 18-month period, the Princeton-Berkeley researchers reviewed those studies’ data — and often re-crunched raw numbers — to calculate the risk that violence would rise under hotter and wetter conditions.
They found that while climate is not the sole or primary cause of violence, it undeniably exacerbates existing social and interpersonal tension in all societies, regardless of wealth or stability. They found that 1 standard-deviation shift — the amount of change from the local norm — in heat or rainfall boosts the risk of a riot, civil war or ethnic conflict by an average of 14 percent. There is a 4 percent chance of a similarly sized upward creep in heat or rain sparking person-on-person violence such as rape, murder and assault. The researchers report that climate-change models predict an average of 2 to 4 standard-deviation shifts in global climate conditions by 2050.
Establishing a correlation between violence and climate change now allows policymakers and researchers to examine what causes it and how to intervene, said lead author Solomon Hsiang, who conducted the work as a postdoctoral research associate in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy in Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
“We think that by collecting all the research together now, we’re pretty clearly establishing that there is a causal relationship between the climate and human conflict,” Hsiang said. “People have been skeptical up to now of an individual study here or there. But considering the body of work together, we can now show that these patterns are extremely general. It’s more of the rule than the exception.
“Whether there is a relationship between climate and conflict is not the question anymore. We now want to understand what’s causing it,” Hsiang said. “Once we understand what causes this correlation we can think about designing effective policies or institutions to manage or interrupt the link between climate and conflict.”
The Latest Bing News on:
Extreme weather and human conflict
- The Government Is Set To Reintroduce Grizzly Bears to the North Cascades. What Happens Now?on April 30, 2024 at 12:47 pm
In 1996, a Canadian researcher stumbled upon a female grizzly bear snacking on a bushel of berries in the U.S. portion of the North Cascades—a mountainous national park in northwest Washington that is ...
- Climate, conflict and security: the interplayon April 26, 2024 at 1:10 am
Climate change impacts both human and natural systems. It also poses a challenge to human security. It is a source of conflict which triggers discussions on the importance of climate security globally ...
- A Chance To Dream Again In Syriaon April 25, 2024 at 11:17 am
Programs delivered UNICEF with funding from Education Cannot Wait are providing early childhood education for children in Syria.
- The most treacherous seas and oceans in the worldon April 24, 2024 at 10:16 am
Factors such as extreme weather patterns, high levels of maritime traffic, inadequate safety measures, and armed conflict can turn a peaceful expanse ... You may also like: Human body: everyday things ...
- Sudan had largest number of people facing extreme food shortages in 2023, UN report showson April 24, 2024 at 2:42 am
The African country accounted for two-thirds of the additional 13.5m people needing urgent help as displacement drove food insecurity globally ...
- On Earth Day climate change and conflict are coming togetheron April 21, 2024 at 8:45 pm
The implications of climate change go far beyond the physical impact on our land and seas as it is a key driver of mass migration and conflict, argues author Andrew Gilmour, who says the world needs a ...
- Human-elephant conflict: The way outon April 19, 2024 at 6:27 pm
To ensure the protection of these majestic creatures, it is imperative to revisit and revise legislative frameworks with a focus on ecological sustainability India’s rich biodiversity includes a ...
- Once-in-100 year temperatures in Sahel, West Africa impossible without man-made warming, study findson April 18, 2024 at 7:13 am
A extreme once-in-a-century heatwave in Africa's Sahel and western regions that saw temperatures soar to a high as 48.5 degrees Celsius at the end of March and early April was caused by human-induced ...
- Extreme weather leading to food and water shockon November 5, 2023 at 4:56 pm
Changes in extreme weather events pose a significant threat to us all ... Extreme heatwaves increase in intensity, making areas previously liveable unfit for human or animal habitation. Periods of ...
- Climate change and displacementon January 8, 2023 at 11:27 pm
As extreme weather events and environmental conditions worsen with global heating, they are contributing to multiple and overlapping crises, threatening human rights ... forcibly displaced by ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Extreme weather and human conflict
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Extreme weather and human conflict” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
Extreme weather and violence
- Chuck Haga: Protests stir memory of 1970 unrest at UNDon May 4, 2024 at 5:04 am
It was May 5, 1970, a day after Ohio National Guard soldiers fired at Kent State students protesting the Vietnam War and its extension into Cambodia. Four young American college students were killed.
- Violence against environmental journalists on the rise, says UNESCOon May 3, 2024 at 12:13 am
Journalists who report on environmental issues face increasing violence around the world from both state ... logging and deforestation, extreme weather events, pollution and environmental damage, and ...
- Violence against environmental journalists rises, UNESCO sayson May 2, 2024 at 3:13 pm
Journalists who report on environmental issues face increasing violence around the world from both state and private actors, UNESCO said on Thursday, highlighting that 44 of these journalists have ...
- Actual Violence Broke Out at University Protests. Police Just Stood Byon May 1, 2024 at 1:48 pm
At UCLA, counterprotesters attacked the student-led encampment Tuesday night by tearing down barricades and plywood surrounding it. They shouted, “Second Nakba!” referring to the mass displacement and ...
- Mexico sends 600 soldiers to border states amid spike in violenceon May 1, 2024 at 10:10 am
E L PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Mexico has sent 600 troops to the border states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon amid a new spike in violence.
- France seeks clampdown on teen violence after boy's stabbingon April 29, 2024 at 8:19 am
France's government on Monday sought wide political support to respond to teen violence after a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death by another teenager at the weekend, the latest in ...
- UVM economist finds Americans more willing to support climate action after experiencing extreme weatheron April 25, 2024 at 1:42 pm
Students at the University of Vermont on Wednesday debated ways to fix Burlington’s pervasive housing crisis. Officials in Rutland Town are considering hiring a new police officer to help investigate ...
- Climate Change Makes Life Harder: In South Africa It's Likely To Bring Heatwaves, Water Stress And Gender-Based Violenceon April 21, 2024 at 4:43 am
South Africa is feeling the impacts of global warming. Heat is frequent and more intense. Human-induced climate change made the severe 2015–2017 dro ...
- Jonathan Majors must attend anti-domestic violence program as part of sentencing in assault of former girlfriendon April 7, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Actor Jonathan Majors was sentenced to a 52-week mandatory in-person domestic violence prevention program ... saying Majors caused her “extreme physical and emotional pain.” ...
- Mayoral candidate murdered in Mexico amid rising political violenceon April 2, 2024 at 3:50 pm
Security analysts say most electoral violence tends to occur at municipal ... Floods swamp southern China, spark extreme weather fears 9:04 AM UTC · Updated ago Worldcategory Iranian president ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Extreme weather and violence
[google_news title=”” keyword=”extreme weather and violence” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]