Volume 14, Issue 5, September 2013
Matt N. Williams, MA, et al.

To the editor:

We were interested to read Gamble and Hess’s study finding that the daily incidence of violent crime in Dallas increased with temperatures up to 90°F (32.2°C), but decreased above this threshold. On this basis, their abstract surprisingly concludes that “higher ambient temperatures expected with climate change…. are not likely to be accompanied by markedly higher rates of violent crime” (p.239). This conclusion contrasts with the findings of previous studies.1–3