Editorial review reveals rising temperatures could increase homicides in South Africa, suggesting urgent mitigation strategies.
South Africa could experience a thousand more homicides a year, were the temperature to rise by 1C, according to a recent editorial review of the impact of temperature on violent crime. How the weather affects risk for crime is mediated by a host of other factors, the authors note. As temperatures rise, understanding heat-violence mechanisms will become increasingly important in anticipating and mitigating crime hotspots.
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Human Sciences Research Council (2026) studied this question.
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