For subscribers
Fewer babies are born in the months following hot days
The effect is small but consistent.
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Global warming also has much subtler effects – including, researchers suggest, on fertility.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH
The Economist
Follow topic:
The hottest year on record, 2023, may not retain its title for long; 2024 already looks as though it may overtake it. As temperatures continue to rise, countries will scramble to prevent heat deaths and tackle extreme weather. But global warming also has much subtler effects – including, researchers suggest, on fertility.
A paper recently published in Population Studies, a journal, is the latest to document a relationship between extreme heat and babymaking. It showed that the fertility rate in Spain fell roughly nine months after extremely hot days, echoing recent data from countries around the world. Although this effect is generally small, it could grow as climate change accelerates.
