Relationship between Warming and an Increase in Crime in Tokyo

Abstract

There has been growing interest in the relationship between climate change and crime. This study investigated the relationship between temperature and crime rate from 1967 to 2011 in Tokyo. During the summer, rape and obscenity were frequent. The monthly crime rate ratios （i.e., the ratio of crime rate in a particular month of a given year to the average monthly crime rate in that given year） of rape and obscenity rose significantly with increases in average temperature during the winter and summer, respectively. An increase in temperature could potentially increase the risks of rape and obscenity.