The impact of heat waves and urban heat islands on criminal activity and delinquency in a large urban area.

The rise in global temperature has resulted in more severe and frequent extreme weather and climate events (IPCC,2021). Extreme heat is a threat to people's health and quality of life. Heat waves impact the health of humans, animals, vegetation, and, more broadly, have an impact on the systems on which social life depends. Research in the social sciences has shown that heat waves can affect our mental health, behaviour, political attitudes, and even opinion. More recently, studies have found an association between extreme heat and an increase in criminality and civil conflicts. A broader understanding of the effect of heat waves and urban heat islands is essential, as it could affect our physical and mental health, and generate violence. Little is known about the effect of extreme heat on criminal activity and delinquency and, to the best of our knowledge, no research has been conducted in the Global South. We used a unique dataset of Undersecretary of Crime Prevention (UCP) and of Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR2MET), with geolocation, to impact of heat waves and urban heat islands on criminal activity and delinquency in Santiago, Chile, from 2005 to 2010. We combined various datasets contains meteorological information and all crimes reported to the police in Metropolitan Region of Santiago. Furthermore, we used Poisson count fixed effect regression model estimated using pseudo maximum likelihood statistical technique to estimate heat-crime gradients. Our results showed the distribution of heat-waves and crimes, besides present the correlation between them. We discuss policy implications and put our findings in the broader context of adaptation of vulnerable communities in the future under a climate crisis.