skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Study: Warmer Temps Multiply Threat of Higher Crime Rates

play audio
Play

Thursday, January 30, 2020   

LAS VEGAS -- Winters are getting warmer, and according to a new study the temperature boost could increase interactions among people, leading to more violent encounters.

Depending on how quickly temperatures rise due to climate change, a University of Colorado study shows the United States could see 2 million to 3 million more violent crimes between now and the end of the century than there would be in a non-warming world.

Lead researcher Ryan Harp at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU-Boulder, says FBI crime statistics and temperature data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were combined to understand the connection between warming and crime rates.

"The vast majority of what goes into that violent crime bucket ends up being aggravated assault, and so that is really the main outcome that's underlying this relationship," he states.

Harp and his colleagues assumed urban areas would be most affected by increased crime related to spiking temperatures, but notes the potential rise was evenly distributed between rural and urban areas.

The study, published in Environmental Research Letters, looked at data for 16,000 U.S. cities.

Many people associate irritability with hot weather, but the study showed the increased crime rate will likely occur in winter months, when warming temperatures allow people to be outdoors.

Harp says that sets the stage for more violent crimes such as assault and robbery, because better weather creates more opportunities for interactions among people.

"If you have a really pleasant week, then more people are going to be leaving their home -- going out to eat, going for walks, whatever it might be -- you're just increasing the chances that those two things are going to come together," he explains.

The Union of Concerned Scientists predicts that without global action to reduce carbon emissions, Las Vegas will probably experience 96 days of heat above 100 degrees by the end of the century, including 60 days over 105 degrees and seven "off the chart" days that would break the current heat index.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021