Air pollution is often the result of harmful substances including biological molecules and particulates interacting with the Earth’s atmosphere. It may bring about allergies, diseases, and even death to humans in various cases. Unlike popular belief, both natural processes and human activity are responsible for generating air pollution. Despite the fact that air pollution is known to be extremely detrimental to the environment and one’s personal health, recent publications have led researchers to believe that it is also responsible for crime growth. Anxiety and stress catalyzed in living spaces with “high levels of damaging particulate matter” have been connected to an increase in the levels of burglary, violent crimes, and robbery in accordance with a study published in the Psychological Science journal (Lu, 2018). Co-author of the study Julia Lee stated that “air pollution not only corrupts people’s health, but can also contaminate their morality” (Lu, 2018). Alongside crime statistics provided by the Federal Bureau Initiative (FBI), researchers analyzed data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) across more than 9,000 cities over a period of 9 years.
Upon accounting for differentiation in poverty rates and police report numbers, it was observed that areas with weaker quality of air saw levels of crime that were above average (Kristiansson et al, 2015). According to the report entitled Polluted Morality: Air Pollution Predicts Criminal Activity and Unethical Behavior, air pollution affected the psychological experience to naturally increase anxiety which in turn led certain individuals to behave in unethical ways (Kristiansson et al, 2015). Furthermore, researchers from the University of Michigan, Harvard and Columbia business schools noted that anxiety was only one of a multitude of factors which develop an explicit connection between criminal activity and air pollution. Low level disorders such as vandalism or drinking as related to the broken-windows theory can lead to anti-social and criminal behavior as well. When one experiences an environment that is clearly polluted and toxic on a daily basis, their concern for appropriateness on an ethical level may diminish, making them more prone to unlawful and immoral acts (Kristiansson et al, 2015).
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Air Pollution and Crime".
Furthermore, a growing issue more common in Asian cities that those of Western includes the lower visibility as a result of smog. Existing as yet another form of air pollution, photochemical smog is a term serving as portmanteau of the words fog and smoke. Commonly found in clustered populations including and especially that of Los Angeles, smog is a form of air pollution that is derived from industrial fumes and internal combustion engines producing vehicular emission. These emissions react with the sunlight entering the atmosphere to create secondary pollutants which are best observed in the evening just under the skyline as they often form an orange-like haze (Hernnstadt, Muehlegger, 2015). This has been found to trigger higher crime rates in a similar way.
In order to develop a proof that would create a causal link between crime and air pollution, a series of experiments were conducted by the aforementioned researchers. Participants in the study were provided photos of clear-sky and polluted landscapes. In each analysis, these individuals were found to be more likely to express anxiety upon viewing the polluted image and cheat on tasks that followed. Despite noting that their discoveries require ongoing investigation, Dr. Jackson Lu, the lead author stated these results have tremendous implications for international governments (Hernnstadt, Muehlegger, 2015). A similar conclusion with respect to the impact of air pollution was published in 2015 by scientists of the University of California and Harvard University’s Centre for the Environment. In the report, it was found that in areas of significant pollution, levels of violent crime increase by 2.2 percent (Hernnstadt, Muehlegger, 2015).
- Herrnstadt, E., & Muehlegger, E. (2015, December 10). Air Pollution and Criminal Activity: Evidence from Chicago Microdata. Retrieved February 12, 2018, from http://www.erichmuehlegger.com
- Kristiansson, M., Sorman, K., & Tekwe, C. (2015). Urban air pollution, poverty, violence and health – Neurological and immunological aspects as mediating factors. Journal of Environmental Research, 140, 511-513. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2015.05.013
- Lu, J. G., PhD. (2018, February 7). Polluted Air May Pollute Our Morality. Retrieved February 12, 2018, from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/polluted-air-may- pollute-our-morality.html
