Cruel Summer: how hot weather makes people angrier | Dean Burnett

The UK is currently experiencing something of a heatwave. However, as much as people claim to look forward to and enjoy hot weather, the evidence suggests that people are actually far more aggressive and violent when the temperature rises. What is it about the heat that makes people so angry?Wednesday 1 July saw the hottest July day in the UK on record, and of course the population and the media responded with the typical calm and level-headedness you’d expect.I myself missed most of it as, by astonishing coincidence and following a celebratory pub visit with some friends, I was enduring the worst hangover on record. The sort of hangover where every internal organ is competing for the title of “biggest source of wretchedness”. The sort of hangover where your own skull seems to be angry at you. The sort of hangover where even attempting a sip of water feels like trying to down a cocktail of rancid milk and toilet cleaner. Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Science Summer Environment Psychology Source Type: news