"6% Increase in Domestic Violence per 1°C Rise"…Global Warming Fueling Violence

As the climate crisis caused by global warming worsens, a study revealing that temperature increases due to deadly heatwaves are linked to a rise in domestic violence has attracted attention. The results showed that domestic violence increases by more than 6% for every 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature.

On the 28th (local time), the UK Guardian reported that a study analyzing the correlation between domestic violence and temperature in three South Asian countries?India, Pakistan, and Nepal?was published in the American Medical Association journal 'JAMA Psychiatry.' The study tracked emotional, physical, and sexual violence experienced by 194,871 women aged 15 to 49 in these three countries from 2010 to 2018 and compared it with temperature variation data during the same period.

According to the study, in these three countries, when the annual average temperature rose by 1 degree Celsius, incidents of physical and sexual domestic violence increased by more than 6.3%. Among them, India showed the highest rate of increase. In India, a 1-degree Celsius rise in temperature was associated with an 8% increase in physical violence and a 7.3% increase in sexual violence.

In particular, the researchers noted that while high temperatures were linked to increased violence across all income levels, the rate of increase was highest among low-income and rural households.

For example, extreme heat can disrupt economic activities such as crop harvesting, and when people are unable to work outdoors, they may experience severe stress, which can increase the risk of domestic violence.

However, the researchers explained that not only social and economic variables but also the heat itself can directly affect the body.

Professor Mice Bell, a public health professor at Yale University in the UK who participated in the study, said, "There are many physiological and social potential pathways through which high temperatures can influence the risk of violence," adding, "There is growing evidence that heatwaves affect stress, enhance aggression, and worsen mental illness."

In response, the Guardian reported past research findings that extreme heat exposure is related to increased adrenaline secretion, which can heighten aggressive tendencies.

Meanwhile, some regions in India recently experienced temperatures as high as 46 degrees Celsius, resulting in over 100 deaths, and perceived temperatures across Thailand have soared well above 50 degrees Celsius, causing severe heatwave distress.

Earlier, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the European Union (EU) climate change monitoring agency, stated that with the pronounced global warming phenomenon this month, the global average temperature is about 1 degree higher than the highest June temperature recorded in 1979.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.