In the tradition of Silent Spring and The Sixth Extinction, an urgent, meticulously researched, and groundbreaking book about the ways in which chemicals in the modern environment are changing—and endangering—human sexuality and fertility on the grandest scale, from renowned epidemiologist Shanna Swan. To get to the bottom of this mystery, I found two colleagues, Laura Fenster and Eric Elkin, who were willing to help me. The results were utterly astounding: after six months of data crunching and considering potential biases and confounding factors, our overall conclusion agreed, almost exactly, with that of the Carlsen team. Because we’d accounted for geographic location in the various studies, we found that sperm counts really were declining in the United States and Europe. But what about the rest of the world? Here’s why: Hormones—particularly, two of the sex hormones, estrogen and testosterone—are what make reproductive function possible. Both the amount of each hormone and the ratio between these hormones are important for both sexes. The sweet spots for these ratios are different for each sex: depending on whether you are a man or a woman, your body needs optimal amounts of estrogen and testosterone, not too much or too little of either one. To make it more complicated, the timing of their release can alter reproductive development and functionality, and the transport of hormones can be an issue as well—if they don’t get to the right place at the right time, essential processes such as sperm production or ovulation won’t be set into motion. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals, as well as lifestyle factors—including diet, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol or drug use—can alter these parameters, sending levels of these crucial hormones in the wrong direction. Aside from the obligatory kowtows to the homosexual and transsexual, this book has a great deal of very frightening (yet enlightening) information. Our sperm counts have been dropping by 1% per year for the past 50 years, which means that we have half the sperm as did men in 1970. Only about ~10% of males today will get their sperm accepted into sperm banks. Our sperm are becoming mutated, without tails, spinning in circles, and decreasing in density and volume. Why?

Use metal water bottles. If a water bottle is made out of plastic, then plastic particles will seep into your drink. The book is divided into five Parts. The Parts have no titles, and it’s anyone’s guess what the different Parts represent. Likely there’s a thematic connection, or maybe an organizational/narrative similarity, between the chapters in these parts, but I doubt that it’s important for the reader. After a very brief section on Nepal, one on the woes of the Punjab (the center of the Green Revolution in India in the late ‘60s), stemming from severe lowering of the underground aquifer, over-use of pesticides, rampant suicide of farmers, etc. This is a very interesting phenomenon. It means that whilst people are having fewer children, population statistics can continue to rise, because of the increased length of time that the elderly are living. For instance in China, where the one-child policy came into force in 1978 - the population continues nevertheless to grow. It won't be until the last wave of "baby boomers" pass on that statistics will start to drop. In the tradition ofSilent SpringandThe Sixth Extinction, an urgent, meticulously researched, and groundbreaking book about the ways in which chemicals in the modern environment are changing human sexuality and endangering fertility on a vast scale.

Table of Contents

Weisman clearly perceives the earth is overpopulated. I agree. He clearly believes that the earth and humanity are facing tremendous problems in the coming decades: global warming, food shortages, rising sea levels, degrading ecosystems, peak oil, falling water tables, possibly severe fresh water shortages in some parts of the world. All of these challenges would be made less formidable if humanity could level off its population and then start to decrease it. Fast-forward to the summer of 2017 when my latest paper on this subject, written with my colleague Hagai Levine and five other committed researchers, went viral. Kudos, Messrs. Patterson and DuBois, for this second novel in the series. While I was not sure we’d see Amy Cornwall again, it was a pleasure once more to find her struggling to stay ahead of the trouble. Is the action overdone? I'd say quite possibly and lean towards yes. Even accounting for adrenaline, I'd expect Amy to pass out from exhaustion at any moment in the book. And that's before she goes into full superhero mode, where I felt I was reading a script for the next Mission Impossible movie. It's a bit over the top, as many action thriller are, but I was exhausted for the Amy after reading this!

In late July 2017, it seemed as if every media outlet around the globe had become obsessed with the state of human sperm counts. Psychology Today cried, “Going, Going, Gone? Human Sperm Counts Are Plunging,” while the BBC declared, “Sperm Count Drop Could Make Humans Extinct,” and the Financial Times announced, “?‘Urgent Wake-Up Call’ for Male Health as Sperm Counts Plummet.” A month later, Newsweek published a major cover story on the same subject: “Who’s Killing America’s Sperm?” Most of the chapters include journalistic material from interviews which Weisman conducted. Many of these are with experts or policy wonks who supply general insight into the current topic. But many too are with more ordinary people. Though the views of individuals obviously lend an anecdotal tinge to the writing, in illustrating the larger issues from individual perspectives they do make them come alive, in a way that a more high-level, academic overview generally cannot do. (TU) The precipitous drop in sperm counts is an example of a “canary in the coal mine” scenario. In other words, the sperm-count decline may be Mother Nature’s way of acting as a whistleblower, drawing attention to the insidious damage human beings have wrought on the built and natural worlds. The tone of the book is annoying. The whole thing could have been much shorter. I already knew most of the info, but it is still important. Swan highlights all of reasons fertility is declining in the United States. It's a very sad topic to read about fertility issues and how they devastate families, but thankfully it's more on facts than stories.

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Amy is left to work with Jeremy and their informal resources to try and save her family and New York city with only five days before it’s supposed to happen. Amy finds herself racing from Lebanon to France to England to New York in a race to stop one of the most powerful and life-threatening terrorist plots ever conceived or hundreds of thousands of deaths will just be the beginning of a madman’s vision of the future. The Great Wall of People, is set in China. The main topic is a revealing look at China’s one-child policy, instituted in 1979. _see here_ The fact that there are no sizeable racial or national minorities in Japan is cited as (and probably felt by Japanese to be) a reason why they have one of the most egalitarian, law-abiding and peaceful societies in the developed world.)