Some scientists are warning about a less obvious consequence of climate change, its impact on human reproduction, particularly male fertility.
A study conducted by the National University of Singapore, which examined the sperm of 818 men, found that heatwaves increased the risk of low sperm count by nearly 46%, making conception more difficult. A similar finding was observed in a 2023 Chinese study involving nearly 2,200 samples, which concluded that “exposure to heatwaves was significantly associated with a reduction in sperm quality.”
A more recent and in-depth study conducted in Argentina has quantified this phenomenon with greater precision, providing crucial data for those looking to have children and for fertility experts.
Researchers from the Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine (Ibyme), part of Argentina’s prestigious National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Conicet), analyzed sperm samples from 54,907 men aged 18 to 60, collected by a private laboratory in Buenos Aires over a 19-year period.
By cross-referencing this data with climate information provided by the national meteorological service between 2005 and 2023, they found that exposure to heatwaves reduced the number of motile sperm, those capable of movement and considered fertile, by 10%.
Additionally, they observed that the proportion of sperm with a normal shape was also reduced.
Source: Science of the Total Environment
