Chicago passes 500 homicides for the year, could global warming be to blame?

Chicago has reached a grim milestone, 500 murders in the city within one year. The city almost missed the mark, however murders on Thursday night and Friday morning closed the gap just three days before the new year.

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CHICAGO, IL (Catholic Online) - Chicago has long been plagued by economic depression, organized crime, and other related ills that make the homicide rate so high. Not to mention the sheer population of the city which is just over 2.7 million souls.

Tragically, domestic violence claimed the life of Nathaniel T. Jackson, 40, as he was shot to death outside an Austin neighborhood store.

Could global warming be to blame?

For 2012, Chicago homicides are up 17 percent over 2011. The prevailing theory is that unseasonably warm weather in the early part of the year led to a spike in the murder rate. In fact, during the first three months of the year, the Chicago murder rate was 60 percent higher than it was for the same period in 2011.

The 500 milestone is a dreaded number and does nothing to build the reputation of a city struggling to revitalize after years of recession.

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