Researchers at Iowa State University have written a book that explains how a rapidly warming planet increases aggression and violence, bridging the gap between climate science and psychology.

A new book, “Climate Change and Human Behavior,” examines how climate change affects people’s thinking and behavior, both directly and indirectly. As the authors rely on decades of prior research, they show how these impacts at the individual and group levels can escalate to political unrest, civil war and other forms of violence to. It is claimed that if these issues are addressed now, they may be able to mitigate some of the long-term costs.

Professor Craig A. Anderson, who co-wrote the book with an Iowa State psychology graduate student, said, “One of our goals with this book was… to outline some human costs that are on our doorstep and how core psychological concepts can be used to… reduce both the amount of global warming and human violence problems that arise from the climate crisis,” he said in an interview.

According to the authors, high temperatures cause the brain to divert resources to other areas of the body in an effort to keep cool. When this occurs, the brain’s ability to process new information, manage emotions, and control impulses is reduced.. Those who are hot are more likely to see other people as aggressive, which increases the likelihood of a fight..

According to Anderson, “heat stress primes people to act more aggressively”. Over time and in different regions, we can see this play out on a larger scale.

When controlling for factors like poverty and age distribution, researchers found that hotter regions in the US and around the world had higher rates of violent crime, regardless of other risk factors like poverty and age distribution. Anderson’s previous research also showed a strong link between hotter periods of time and violence; the murder, rape and assault rates in the United States were higher during hotter days, months, seasons and years. Anderson led much of this previous research.

The book cited a large body of developmental research showing that being convicted of violent crime as an adult is predicated on poor pre- and post-natal nutrition. Stress during childhood (e.g., living in poverty or in a violent neighborhood, family separation, economic and housing instability, displacement) can also cause adverse cognitive and emotional outcomes and increase the risk factors for violence-prone behaviors..

Several of the risk factors for adult violence are expected to become more prevalent as a result of rapid climate change, Anderson noted when he first began researching the topic about a decade ago.

More people will face hunger and malnutrition, as well as economic instability and poverty due to climate change’s increased frequency and severity of droughts, wildfires, floods, and hurricanes, according to the authors. Massive population shifts to places with more resources (better grazing land, cities with more jobs, etc.) can result in real (or perceived) competition for those resources.

To put it another way, Syria’s civil war began with a severe drought. There was an enormous influx of people from rural areas to urban areas looking for work and resources like food and water, but the government was unprepared for this and it led to political unrest and civil war as people competed for scarce resources like these.

Additionally, as a result of the conflict in Syria, many people fled to Europe, fueling anti-immigration sentiment in countries like Germany and the UK.

There are ways to mitigate the effects of climate change, no matter how bleak the future may appear. There is a need to shift the perception of climate change, they said. Rather than debating whether or not climate change is real, scientists, politicians, and the media should help people understand the causal link between rapid global warming and the threats people face on a daily basis (e.g., poverty, crime).

Moving some of the burden away from individuals is another important step. They cited a 2017 report from the Carbon Majors Database, which showed that 100 corporations were responsible for 71% of global emissions of greenhouse gases. Rather than relying on individuals to solve the problem, Anderson and Miles-Novelo asserted that addressing emissions at this higher level is the most effective strategy for limiting climate change.

In addition to bolstering programs that support prenatal and postnatal nutrition, which can help offset some of the risk factors for violence-prone adults, the authors said that proactive responses can lessen the impacts of climate change on individuals and communities.

It’s time to start preparing for hundreds of millions of people who will be fleeing environmental disasters or political unrest in the coming decades, according to Anderson.

As climate change drives more ecomigration in the United States and around the world, there are a number of issues that we will have to address more seriously,” he says. In the next 50 years, the problems we’re seeing today will seem insignificant, according to Anderson.

Ecomigrations should be viewed as an opportunity to integrate people into communities where they can live sustainably and utilize their talents, skills, as well as aspirations to benefit the community and their own families, Anderson argues.