[rustynails]

I'm playing devil's advocate here. I'm glad the testing has been done and hope to see robust discussion.

Some people are deliberating over 1973. It doesn't appear to be a magic year for when problems started. It appears to be the earliest date that was analysed.

The question of "so what" is important (even if people are being downvoted for asking it). At least one expert has said "despite the decline found in the study, average sperm counts still remain in the normal range."[1]. I won't claim to understand "normal" in this context.

What is even more fascinating is that every western country has negative population growth and has for quite some time [2]. In spite of testosterone levels being within normal range, western population numbers are going backwards across all countries. Why?

There are some historical lessons that some people are looking to (eg. The decline of the Roman Empire). I would add that there are other factors that are having a bigger impact than sperm count, namely the pill and career vs motherhood [3]. I greatly respected Kate Ellis (a local MP in South Australia) for publicly resigning and stating just how hard it is to be a committed mother and a woman with a full time career. The "career woman" is the principal type of woman represented by the media today and Kate's voice was very important to some women I spoke with who were relieved that somebody finally spoke out.

We don't even know if sperm count will have a significant impact compared to population decline. I support the investigation but it's part of a much bigger issue.

Is the issue principally chemicals? The data said Asia doesn't appear to be impacted and Asia has plenty of chemicals (and microwaves to respond to another poster).

Is the media contributing to the problem by downplaying the significance of motherhood for women? Are we undermining our collective strength by pretending that every human being is equal rather than recognising and accepting we are different? Should we focus on opportunity rather than outcome when we talk about equality?

Our population decline is a major issue and it apparently isn't linked to sperm count. Migration may be an answer to population decline, or, maybe it's a stop gap. Maybe, the answer can be found in our attitudes.

[1] https://www.newscientist.com/article/2141784-sperm-count-has...

[2] https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=25

[3] https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/complete-without-kids/2...