Climate change and birth rate

Climate change and fertility: a general topic for a particular problem, which is still little studied and little investigated. We are all realizing how much climate change impacts - lately - on our lives and how necessary it is to stem it, but few have carried out an analysis of the correlation between this phenomenon and the ability to procreate.  The scientific literature has, however, already confirmed the strong impact of air pollution on reproduction.

 Climate change has been made possible by the massive injection of fossil fuels into the Earth's atmosphere, such as oil and gas. We can say that 100% of the human population today breathes polluted air and the immediate consequences are for the respiratory system, even if the pollutants then spread throughout the body. The main consequences are cardiovascular, but the impact on fertility is also important.

Pollutants have a direct effect on reproductive cells: it is a tangible effect especially in the most polluted areas; Then there are indirect effects, because the introduction of fossil fuels causes an abnormal warming of the earth's temperature and this makes people's living conditions increasingly difficult. 2023 was the hottest year in human history. These effects linked to extreme weather events (floods, droughts, enormous rainfall in a short time) also impact the psychology of those who would like to have children. It thus becomes evident that we live in an epochal crisis, which generates what is called "eco-anxiety": one wonders why bring into the world people who will live in such difficult climatic conditions and in such a hot and overcrowded land. All this leads to a reduction in fertility and lower birth rates.

Are there any solutions to this problem? Of course, they must be global solutions. Global warming can only be solved if there is an alliance between all the countries of the world. The solutions at national and regional level imply a very strong desire to implement interventions aimed at reducing the production of fossil fuels and involve politics, which must take note that we are experiencing - today - many crises at the same time (climate-related crisis, crisis linked to the economy, overcrowding, geopolitical crises).

I am moderately optimistic: lately there has been a trend, even on the part of politics, towards awareness and action and I hope that everything will be translated, at a global level, into policies that go in the same direction.