Criminal Climatology — New Tool for Identifi cation of Civilization Threats in the Environmental Protection Area. National, Regional and Global Perspective

Abstract

The following paper is devoted to the problem of criminal climatology. It is one of the innovative issues analyzed within the framework of ecocriminology — a new field of criminology that has been dynamically developing since the beginning of the 20th century. The issue is analysed from a national, regional and global perspective. The authors of the study analyse and synthesise the scientific achievements of ecocriminology to date, with particular emphasis on criminal problems related to climate. It should be stressed that research in this area has so far been undertaken almost exclusively in the Anglo-Saxon criminology circle. The gap in the Polish criminological literature is filled by the representatives of the Olsztyn School of Ecocriminology. At the same time, the authors of the article try to answer the question whether there are relations between climatic and weather phenomena and criminal and pathological behaviour. In the opinion of the authors, ecocriminological research may constitute a new tool to identify civilization’s threats in the area of environmental protection. Criminal climatology can therefore be a valuable source of criminological thought to fill the gaps in the existing knowledge on crime and pathological behaviours. At the same time, it is a very prospective trend in scientific analysis which requires further research work. The article discusses the genesis of criminal climatology, characterises its achievements to date, specifies the main areas of climatic threats and proposes directions for potential future scientific undertakings in this area.