The World Warms and Tempers Flair

There are the obvious changes that global warming is bringing us: melting glaciers, rising seas, hotter and more extreme weather. But according to some recent research—and if you think about it some basic common sense—climate change is changing us as well.

            Drawing on everything from ancient tree rings to observing road rage, Berkley scientists have come to the conclusion that a warmer world will be a more violent world. On the face of it, it just seems to make sense. It’s pretty common knowledge that as the mercury rises, people’s tempers develop shorter and shorter fuses. OK, I know that professional hockey kind of throws a monkey wrench into this observation, but for the most part the hotter it is, the more likely it is that people’s tempers will flair. Riots don’t develop in the summertime, not when it’s snowing outside. And kids’ snowball battles are less likely to escalate into serious confrontations than their summertime ball games do.

            The world is changing and we are changing as well.

As the world warms, will we be able to keep our cool?