Scientists have recorded a decrease in birth rates in Spain nine months after periods of abnormal heat, which is another evidence of the effect of climate change on demographic processes. The study at the Max Planck Demographic Research Institute in Germany, published in Population Studies , showed a significant impact of high temperatures on birth rates in the country. About it reports The Economist .
In particular, leading researcher Risto Conte Kivab and his colleagues have studied the relationship between weather conditions and birth rates in Spain from 2010 to 2018. They analyzed the total birth rate (OCD), which shows the average number of children born to women during their lives, and found a decrease in this indicator after high temperatures.
According to the study, when the temperature rises above 25 ° C, the birth rate decreased by 0.3% in nine months. If the temperature reached more than 30 ° C, the OCD decreased by 0.8%. This indicates that extreme weather conditions can have a long -term effect on demographic parameters.
One of the main causes of this phenomenon, researchers call a decrease in sexual activity in the heat, as well as the impact of heat stress on the quality of semen. According to animal studies, heat stress leads to a temporary deterioration of sperm quality, which can occur in a few weeks. Similar results were observed in humans.
The increase in the temperature caused by global warming can have an even greater effect on the birth rate in the future, which makes you think about the long -term consequences of climate change for humanity.
