A few readers have written to point out that the lack of murders in Flint this year may be attributable to the cold, snowy winter, not some upturn in Flint's civic fortunes. That got me thinking in a very unscientific fashion...do people in really cold places commit fewer murders? With all the time spent buying snow tires, trying to apply Chapstick without taking your gloves off, and drinking Rumplemintz to stay warm, you might not have time to kill someone. So lets find a place that's even colder than Michigan for a quick comparison. After reviewing the crime stats for Iceland, a nation of more than 300,000 whose very name advertises its chilly temperatures, I can only conclude that the answer is a resounding yes! Here's the homicide tally from 2000-2005:
Flint (kinda cold): 193 murders
Iceland (really cold): 16 murders. That's right, 16! In six years!
And just what are these non-violent Icelanders doing with their time? They apparently enjoy floating around in hot thermal pools and listening to Bjork, which just isn't conducive to committing murders.
