[johnfactorial]

> their results only show a strong correlative relationship

The paper's abstract says "The results suggest that a 10% reduction in daily PM2.5 and ozone could save $1.4 billion in crime costs per year, a previously overlooked cost associated with pollution." In my opinion this is a statement of a causal relationship, not merely a correlation.

I wonder why they didn't reverse that relationship, too, and propose that violent crime increases pollution.

I would love to read the actual paper, but it's only available to people with money.

[csallen]

> I wonder why they didn't reverse that relationship, too, and propose that violent crime increases pollution.

Probably because you can easily rule out that possibility using common sense, whereas causation in the other direction is at least thinkable and worth investigating further.

[ceejayoz]

"Suggest and could" are different than "indicate and will".

[johnfactorial]

This is probably the nuance I'm missing.

[adenadel]

If you attended a university and still have an email address associated with it you can probably use the library to access many academic articles.