Spermapocalypse Now! By Mrs Vera West

Here is another threat to add to the growing list. A number of researchers and writers have reported on the crash of the average sperm count in Western men, a 59 percent fall between 1973 and 2011 - from 337.5 million to only 137.5 million. What is the importance of this? Well, the hypothesis is that the factors causing the decline, mainly due to hormone-alerting chemicals that are also affecting male animals across the planet, are active, and the decline will continue. After a point human males will not be able to successfully sexually reproduce. Sure, there is AI, not artificial intelligence, but artificial insemination, but that will only be good for as long as stored sperm lasts.  Thus, there is a real danger of human extinction, as the researchers quoted below believe. Talk about the hubris of the affluent, of is it effluent, society?

 https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/fragile-fertility-human-extinction

“There has been an alarming decrease in the average sperm count of Western men over the last few decades.

As Statista's Martin Armstring shows in the infographic below, from their 'Then & Now' series, research has revealed a 59 percent fall between 1973 and 2011 - from 337.5 million to just 137.5 million.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Commenting on the decline, lead author of the study, Hagai Levine, said "the results are quite shocking...this is a classic under the radar huge public health problem that is really neglected".

Going further, Levine warned that "eventually we may have a problem and with reproduction in general. It may be the extinction of the human species." As noted in the research paper, the economic and societal burden of male infertility is high and increasing. The researchers advise that "because of the significant public health implications of these results, research on the causes of this continuing decline is urgently needed."

Fertility research has in the past been criticised for not taking into account the potentially biased sampling methods of earlier studies, citing also the variable of changing laboratory methods. The researchers in this case though say that such issues have been taken into account - only considering samples where the same count method was used, were of an acceptable size and did not include men known to have fertility problems.”

https://academic.oup.com/humupd/article/23/6/646/4035689

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Reported declines in sperm counts remain controversial today and recent trends are unknown. A definitive meta-analysis is critical given the predictive value of sperm count for fertility, morbidity and mortality.

OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE

To provide a systematic review and meta-regression analysis of recent trends in sperm counts as measured by sperm concentration (SC) and total sperm count (TSC), and their modification by fertility and geographic group.

SEARCH METHODS

PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched for English language studies of human SC published in 1981–2013. Following a predefined protocol 7518 abstracts were screened and 2510 full articles reporting primary data on SC were reviewed. A total of 244 estimates of SC and TSC from 185 studies of 42 935 men who provided semen samples in 1973–2011 were extracted for meta-regression analysis, as well as information on years of sample collection and covariates [fertility group (‘Unselected by fertility’ versus ‘Fertile’), geographic group (‘Western’, including North America, Europe Australia and New Zealand versus ‘Other’, including South America, Asia and Africa), age, ejaculation abstinence time, semen collection method, method of measuring SC and semen volume, exclusion criteria and indicators of completeness of covariate data]. The slopes of SC and TSC were estimated as functions of sample collection year using both simple linear regression and weighted meta-regression models and the latter were adjusted for pre-determined covariates and modification by fertility and geographic group. Assumptions were examined using multiple sensitivity analyses and nonlinear models.

OUTCOMES

SC declined significantly between 1973 and 2011 (slope in unadjusted simple regression models −0.70 million/ml/year; 95% CI: −0.72 to −0.69; P < 0.001; slope in adjusted meta-regression models = −0.64; −1.06 to −0.22; P = 0.003). The slopes in the meta-regression model were modified by fertility (P for interaction = 0.064) and geographic group (P for interaction = 0.027). There was a significant decline in SC between 1973 and 2011 among Unselected Western (−1.38; −2.02 to −0.74; P < 0.001) and among Fertile Western (−0.68; −1.31 to −0.05; P = 0.033), while no significant trends were seen among Unselected Other and Fertile Other. Among Unselected Western studies, the mean SC declined, on average, 1.4% per year with an overall decline of 52.4% between 1973 and 2011. Trends for TSC and SC were similar, with a steep decline among Unselected Western (−5.33 million/year, −7.56 to −3.11; P < 0.001), corresponding to an average decline in mean TSC of 1.6% per year and overall decline of 59.3%. Results changed minimally in multiple sensitivity analyses, and there was no statistical support for the use of a nonlinear model. In a model restricted to data post-1995, the slope both for SC and TSC among Unselected Western was similar to that for the entire period (−2.06 million/ml, −3.38 to −0.74; P = 0.004 and −8.12 million, −13.73 to −2.51, P = 0.006, respectively).

WIDER IMPLICATIONS

This comprehensive meta-regression analysis reports a significant decline in sperm counts (as measured by SC and TSC) between 1973 and 2011, driven by a 50–60% decline among men unselected by fertility from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Because of the significant public health implications of these results, research on the causes of this continuing decline is urgently needed.”