Probably fertility. It's almost certain that the decreased average sperm count is related to microplastics. It's less clear if it's related to our elevated rate of prostate cancer, but I'm cool with blaming big oil for that, too.
this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2024
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Or the lack of exercise. Or the lack of zinc. Or the obesity epidemic.
Can something be done? Possibly, who knows?
Will something be done? I wouldn't hold my breath.
This isn't the only potentially human civilization-ending event I first heard about this past month, and that doesn't include climate change that we've known about for literally decades, which many of the major players involved including the USA and China still don't seem to care much about even now.
There is a saying: "put your money where your mouth is", meaning that if people want to truly "care" about something - e.g. to be Pro-Life - then we need to actually get up off the couch and do something about what we otherwise claim to but don't really care. For instance we could... I dunno, wear masks when we feel the slightest hint of a respiratory illness coming on - cheap, trivially easy, and can save literal lives. And not to trivialize this, some people truly do care - even as I type this I'm listening to a livestream talking about restoration taking much more effort but yielding much greater results than merely shaming people by pointing out something bad.
However, and a bit ironically, Big Tobacco and Big Oil and Big Sugar and Big Tech and Big Plastic etc. all do this, investing great efforts into stopping efforts to try to stop them. Without equal or greater efforts in opposition... well, like I said, I would not hold my breath.
which many of the major players involved including the USA and China still don't seem to care much about even now.
that so?Thanks for sharing the link - TIL something!:-)
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This isnβt the only potentially human civilization-ending event I first heard about this past month, and that doesnβt include climate change that weβve known about for literally decades, which many of the major players involved including the USA and China still donβt seem to care much about even now.
To be fair, every damn headline is framed as civilisation-ending for clicks. Nuclear war is the only one I can think of that's both fairly plausible and could actually end it. Others are at various significant but lower levels of suck, or are just geologically rare.
In particular, climate change is going to suck hard, and I'll miss coral reefs, but some form of civilisation will endure. I know, someone's going to argue with me, and I look forward to making you move around the goalposts on what "end of civilisation" means.
Otherwise, yeah, you're just right. Humanity runs on apathy.
Yeah, the increasing likelihood of Russia or China using nukes to get their way was what I was thinking, especially with talk that the Western nations might be giving Ukraine the go-ahead to use those weapons to strike within Russia itself.
The plastic sperm issue actually doesn't sound so bad in comparison, bc fertilization treatments might work even if needing to extract outside of the body first. Overall, it still sounds less dangerous to me than e.g. a young woman living in Florida these days without access to money to leave the state for medical care.
I frankly have no idea what to expect about climate change at this point - we've blown far past all the targets and seem now to be in uncharted territory, according to what little I understand. I do notice far fewer birds, bees and other insect life, and I recall hearing how in the Antarctic a few months back there was a single day where the temperature spiked by +70 degrees F (~40Β°C). I can only imagine what that would do to e.g. Texas if it went from already 100 to then 170 degrees, even if only for a few hours. "Coral" is the least of the issue iirc, they were (by virtue of being sensitive) mainly indicators of the actual events, which we won't know until we see it, but scientists are saying that it's no bueno. Anyway, it seems like the changes could wipe out all mammalian life on the planet, but then again maybe not!?:-P i.e. it could be really bad, but it could be less so, we just don't know, and as you said, we mostly barely care ("we" meaning voters, so chiefly Boomers & evangelical Christians, as Trump and the Republican party's biggest bases).
And yet we seem to care a great deal about tHe EcOnOmY tHo - so it's a choice of prioritization to pick what "matters" to us.
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Not mine. Mine so big, they got their own municipal recycling program.
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Think of the profits corporations will be able to make curing the impacts of this!
I'm guessing it's unknown. There's microplastic in testes, and it's not good for fertility. Getting that far probably required a lot of research. Understanding the mechanism and projecting it forwards will require way, way more.
It's irreversible at this point and nothing you can do except hope it won't affect your health.
It's only fair that it's happening to humans since we are destroying the planet.
It's also happening to practically every other animal, and some of them were more sensitive to the effects before people.
it's gonna keep looping through the foodchain until some microbe finally figures out an easy way to break them down... fun stuff.
Preliminary testes have suggested it will be an issue, but we need another few rounds of testes to be sure.
Please send any testes you have laying around to PO box 609 for testing.
For science!
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Well perhaps the microplastics will reduce the overall fertility rate of the human population at large. Perhaps life itself will get so difficult for the average person, they'll be discouraged from having babies, and perhaps only then will the worst effects of climate change will be narrowly averted...maybe.
One of the worst things you can do to the environment folks. Don't bear children. Don't invite another being into this madness and suffering.
One of the worst things you can do to the environment folks. Don't bear children. Don't invite another being into this madness and suffering.
As is continuing to live so why don't you follow through on that line of thought here
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My fear is not enough to be noticeable. More than enough to matter.
Ancient romans and lead pipes come to mind
Soon we will all be plastic. Its already in our food and water.
What i really think about is these are only the effects so far from the plastics that have started to break down from when plastics were created (smaller quantities). What happens when the plastics of today start to break down (larger quantities).
Kind of like the effects of oil (air pollution) being felt 30-50 years down the line.
On the upside - they won't be as harmful as the PFAS in our systems.
On the downside - they'll still probably be harmful.
Mother nature - y'all motherfuckers are on your own.
DOW CEO - hey maybe the PFAS will eradicate the microplastic cancers! This could be win win, let's see what happens!
Not a problem for 50% of humans.
Experiments in rats have found that once plastic is introduced to their environment, their ability to reproduce declines drdmstically. Genitalia are smaller, slerm rates lower. And the effect compounds and grows generation after generation, getting worse and worse so long as plastic is consumed.
Studies have also shown that human fertility (regarding actual physical ability to reproduce, not the choice of whether to do so) has dropped dramatically genetation on generation since the rise of plastics
^slerm
once plastic is introduced to their environment, their ability to reproduce declines drdmstically.
Their ability to communicate goes down too, apparently π
Well we'll find out soon enough π
not me I'm getting them removed lmao
Plastic babies with poseable figures; you'll be able to get them into any cool action pose for selfies!
We'll just have to chew more.
I finally got a good paying job, by wife is starting to move up at her's and we could finally afford to have kids (with support from our families) Then plastic balls memes start
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