Are the children particularly whiny or is the neighbour even more irritating than usual? Perhaps the explanation can be found in the high temperatures that arise in a heatwave.
During a heatwave the body is hit with stress and the brain overheats. As a result of this the brain functions are spent regulating the body temperature and keeping cool. Instead, our logical ability suffers and people are more short-tempered.
The police needs preparedness
The long-term consequence may be that the whole society is affected by being more easily irritated and in several countries studies have shown that heatwaves have led to increased criminality.
– It may become a strain on both the police and emergency service staff, says Karin Lundgren Kownacki, who is an analyst in the secretariat for the Swedish National Knowledge Centre for Climate Change Adaptation.
In a 2022 report from the National Knowledge Centre for Climate Change Adaptation, references were made to a study carried out in Chicago, USA which had found that violence and riots increased in a heatwave. Criminality in the form of theft and vandalism also turned out to be more common due to heat.
– In a Swedish context the knowledge centre’s reports finds that we need increased preparedness and to work on more preventative measures, says Karin Lundgren Kownacki.
Less willingness to help others
Nina von Uexkull is senior lecturer in peace and conflict research at Uppsala University and has conducted research on how conflicts in the world are affected by climate change.
– There are studies showing that aggression rises in people in warm weather. Among the findings is that people tend to be less willing to help people from another cultural background than their own, says senior lecturer Nina von Uexkull.
According to her, climate change may have an effect on conflict but in larger armed conflicts it is more common that there are underlying factors that cause a conflict to erupt. It primarily affects countries that have drought issues or countries where agriculture is a large income factor, when the climate changes. That may in turn lead to an escalation of local conflicts.
Risk of suicide increase
The latest IPCC report describes how climate changes has harmful effects on public health. In addition to extreme weather leading to aggression and violence there is also an increased risk of mental ill-health in heatwaves.
– It’s worrying. What has been seen internationally is, for example, that suicide cases have gone up during heatwaves, says Karin Lundgren Kownacki.
The healthcare system may therefore need to prepare for future heatwaves in order to be able to deal with the increased risk of suicide.
Karin Lundgren Kownacki describes heat as the climate risk that may cause the most number of deaths and says that Sweden may also need to reinforce the public resources in order to be able to deal with more heatwaves in future.
– There is a need to review how to manage training of healthcare staff, we’re not used to heatwaves in Sweden, says Karin Lundgren Kownacki.
