In the western world male fertility is declining by 15% a decade. I learned of this rather shocking stat a few weeks back when I logged into a conference held by the Alan Turing AI Institute (a perk of lockdown is having access to endless online conferences, though the online format is very dull). Have a google and you’ll find lots of similar stories about declining male fertility.
Already ringing in my ears, is some people saying that’s probably a good thing because population control is a way to tackle climate change (I don’t strictly agree). On the contrary, this trend is not a good development. As Howard Covington, the person who shared the statistic said, what this startling trend means is, if the decline isn’t reversed and instead spreads across the developing world, it will lead to the eventual end of the human race.
Interestingly, infertility is increasingly being linked to air pollution. An analysis of 18,000 couples in China found that those living with moderately higher levels of small-particle pollution had a 20% greater risk of infertility, defined as not becoming pregnant within a year of trying, as reported The Guardian. Though they couldn’t determine why there was a link but definitely an area where more research is needed.
The politics of air pollution
In London, as we approach the Mayoral elections, it’s perhaps worth bearing this study in mind and checking out the candidates plans to tackle air pollution in the city, which, in some parts, regularly breaks legal limits.
As Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester, pointed out at another online conference I joined, it’s easy to be political about the measures taken to reduce air pollution, pitting car users against non-car users, but clean air is a benefit for us all. In particular, he talked about framing the green agenda for what it is – a way to actually give people a better standard of living.
“It’s easy to play politics with the clean air debate and portray it as a burden on business and a burden on the public but we believe solving the climate crisis can also solve the jobs crisis… we’ve got to try and get people to understand the green agenda as a way of giving people a much better standard of living by lowing the cost of transport and lowering the cost of heating their homes…somehow this message doesn’t get through,” he said.
With contentious Lower Traffic Neighbourhoods and the possibility of extending the congestion charge, reducing air pollution in London has become unpopular with many car users. However, I think it’s important to remember that reducing air pollution is a legal requirement and every mayor should and will have to tackle it one way or another.
Also don’t forget to register to vote: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
Today is the last day to do so.
Interesting read
In Bloomberg Green (the place for everything climate change related) last week there was an interesting story about how Big Oil (BP, Shell, Total etc) selling their most polluting assets is good for their decarbonisation targets but doesn’t get rid of the emissions from the atmosphere. In actual fact, oftentimes, due to more opaque companies taking them up, emissions from these energy assets actually increase. It’s a reminder of how painfully complex – and global – the challenge of climate change is. Only solution: some kind of government action.
Resource of the week
Using Google Earth you can now see the effects of climate change sped up. Google Earth has teamed up with NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, and Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab to bring users time-lapse images of the planet’s surface—24 million satellite photos taken over 37 years. Together they offer photographic evidence of a planet changing faster than at any time in millennia.
Look out for…
President of the US, Joe Biden, is this week expected to set out his core plans for tackling the climate crisis, essentially how he plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the country over the next 10 years. Will be a big moment.
Climate Change Site 