David DeRemer, Assistant Professor from NU GSB, and Birzhan Batkeyev, Assistant Professor from Kazakh-British Technical University, investigated the impact of air pollution on crime rates. They used the location of Almaty in Kazakhstan as it relies heavily on coal heating in winter, and air pollution in the city regularly exceeds international safety standards. For seasonal air pollution in winter, Almaty ranks among the dirtiest 2% of cities worldwide. They collected data on air pollution, crime, and weather for Almaty over three winters, broadly defined as December to March, and found that increased air pollution leads to significant increases in both major and minor crime rates, writes London Loves Business media platform.
Photo credits to Avalon
