From Neukölln to Alex: 37 degrees on Wednesday and Berliners are already going crazy today

Mon dieu, I thought about five times on Tuesday morning as I cycled to the office. I was a lame cow, another cyclist told me, as I was obviously not going fast enough and was too much in the middle of the cycle path, making it difficult for him to overtake. And so it went on, with the honking and the grumbling. Normal in Berlin, but this was next level. In my final meters, a driver with Polish license plates was brutally honked at at the intersection of Alexander- and Karl-Liebknecht-Straße in Berlin-Mitte by a truck because he hadn't realized he was in the turning lane even though he wanted to go straight ahead. A stranger who deserved leniency!

A quick search revealed that there is a direct connection between heat and aggression. Two American scientists proved this with an experiment back in the 1970s. They divided 64 students into two groups. One group criticized the other, and the other group was allowed to retaliate with electric shocks. The hotter the temperature in the test room, the more often the electric shocks occurred.

Researchers discovered in the 1980s that heat has a negative impact on road traffic: Their test subjects deliberately ignored green lights and discovered that, especially on hot days, this caused resentment among waiting drivers. Especially those without air conditioning. It resulted in copious honking. I can only confirm this.

Irritated: Unfortunately, vasopressin makes you aggressive

Science tells us that in hot weather, blood vessels dilate to cool the body. This lowers blood pressure. The heart increases its pumping capacity. This causes stress. It also increases the release of a hormone that regulates water balance: vasopressin. Unfortunately, vasopressin makes you aggressive.

Central Europeans, including Berliners, simply feel uncomfortable in temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius. They sleep worse, and lacking enough sleep makes them irritable. Perhaps on Wednesday, when temperatures in Berlin are expected to rise to almost 40 degrees Celsius, they should console themselves with the prospect of the evening. When does one ever get a mild night in Berlin where they can sit outside in a summer dress without freezing? In front of a bar or at the open-air cinema, for example? Wonderful!