Climate Change and Homicide: Global Analysis of the Moderating Role of Information and Communication Technology

Abstract

The link between climate change and human conflict has received substantial attention in academic research using different measures of “conflict”; however, it is yet to interpret interpersonal violence in terms of homicide. This study takes a global perspective to investigate how climate change, typically represented by temperature and precipitation, directly and indirectly affects national homicide rates across countries. From longitudinal archival data from 171 countries from 2000 to 2018, we detect a direct and positive relationship between higher temperatures and homicide, whereas an indirect pathway between wetter climate and homicide through the occurrence of more natural hazards has also been shown in our empirical results. The relationship between climate change and homicide can be moderated by the level of information and communication technologies (ICT). We conclude that the development of ICT contributes to building the countries’ resilience to climate change with better information and communication technologies to help alleviate the negative impacts of climate change on homicide.