Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No joke. The most recent study seems to be good science and a reduction of 52% in fertility over just 40 years means that "Western Man" will likely die out sooner rather than later.
Researchers suspect, and I concur, that this is somehow related to industrialization...the combination of substances we are all exposed to and ingest in various ways. This would include food, food containers (plastics of various sorts), air, water and other similar factors.
So, the debate question or topic would be whether, based on such results, you believe that those who have been "crying in the wilderness" for decades about environment, food and other poisons we have integrated into our society and culture - are slowly going to be the end of us???
Note - life span has stayed the same or increased due to medical intervention - so these things don't always kill us early, but rather cause hormonal and DNA changes that destroy our normal reproductive cycles.
Part of the world which were not fully industrialized 40 years ago do NOT have this drop in sperm counts.
So, your take...your guesses as to why? Or, do you not believe the science?
I'll take some guesses. Cell phones in pockets. More exposure to electromagnetic fields from computers, video games, technology. More time inside under manmade light than outside under sunlight causing lower vitamin D and disrupting the circadian rhythm.
In my completely non researched, non scientific opinion, I think it largely comes to two factors:
1) Obesity. Pretty Simple correlation as I understand it.
2) Estrogen type compounds in our water. I have read in a handful of places that female hormones from "The Pill" and most other forms of contraception, are passed in the urine, and aren't removed or treated or tested for in our water. Atrizine, a common fertilizer, does the same thing. Also, hormones from dairy herds probably have something to do with it.
I get irked when people dismissively say, "there are more chemicals today" or "its all the chemicals in our food." If you try and nail them down they squirm and point at words that they can't pronounce but don't have any idea what it actually means. "Chemicals in our food" and "Toxins in our body" are the 21st century equivalent of "Evil Spirits" and "Female Hysteria." There is something innate in Humans that causes us to be fearful of something bad attacking our well being.
Our parents and grandparents suffered from far worse air and water quality than we did, especially if they were in cities.
it is a cool story, but not something to worry about. We have more than enough sperm to get the job done. And more than enough tech to resolve it a number of diferent ways.
i would be interested more in that it may help us figure out how to extend life and its quality.
Brush off the Seven stages of grief, dress the stage, c'mon people!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KaraG
I'll take some guesses. Cell phones in pockets. More exposure to electromagnetic fields from computers, video games, technology. More time inside under manmade light than outside under sunlight causing lower vitamin D and disrupting the circadian rhythm.
Yup. & if the ozone layer deteriorates, we'll get more ionizing radiation from the sun, accelerating bad effects. It shouldn't be necessary to guess @ causes - with the 185 studies that were folded into the overall study, it should be easy to tease out proposed causative factors - solvents, micro particulates, tainted air/water, fertilizer/medical residue in food & water, chemicals with neurological or hormonal or carcinogenic impacts, & so on - & then run experiments designed to show correlations between the suspected causes & impacts to sperm production.
Once we ID the causes (likely an array, with a few major & more numerous minor causes), then we can try to summon the political will to do something about eliminating or mitigating the causes. Let the games begin!
This will be a backburner story, BTW. It will probably take a good 15-30 years to actually grind out reliable results - kinda like the battle on tobacco & pulmonary/cardiac disease.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Brush off the Seven stages of grief, dress the stage, c'mon people!
