Does The Cold Give You A Cold?

The answer is more complicated than you think:

Meanwhile, as temperatures continue to plummet nationwide, Andrea Anderson reviews research on the correlation between cold weather and violence:

[M]ost real-world studies suggest assaults—and many other crimes—wane in winter months and during cold snaps when temperatures dip below what is considered comfortable in a given climate. There are exceptions, including crime spikes in December and January, although researchers tend to attribute those to confounding circumstances such as the holiday season rather than the cold and more hours of darkness.

Such real-life patterns point to cold’s potential for curbing crime and reflect some of the difficulties associated with trying to study crime triggers in a controlled setting. Unlike the lab, for instance, where scientists get final say over the temperature, people at large in the world are typically at liberty to add a layer or two. Experts also note that it is generally easier to get back to a comfortable body temperature when it gets nippy than when it is excessively hot.

Previous Dish on the effects of cold weather here, and on the connection between weather and crime here.