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Sperm count is rapidly declining and researchers believe environmental factors are at play. Veuer's Tony Spitz has the details.
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An illustration of human sperm. Male fertility could decline the planet warms due to climate change.(Photo: Eraxion, Getty Images / iStockphoto)

The final problem to be linked to global warming: male sperm counts.

It's not good news. According to a new study published Tuesday, male fertility appears to decline as temperatures soar. The study showed "clear evidence" that reduces stress in heat waves "sperm number and viability" in bugs.

Yes, the scientists used to test their theory. But researchers say the insects can be used as a proxy for people.

Beetles are one of the most common species on Earth, "said study co-author Matt Gage, an ecologist at the University of East Anglia in the U.K.

Heat waves are predicted to be more frequent and more severe as a result of climate change.

"Research has also shown that it has been shown that it has been shown that this lead to infertility in mammals," added lead author Kirs Sales, also of the University of East Anglia.

"Our research shows that heat waves have been reproducing reproductive fitness, and it was surprisingly consistent with the effect," he added.

In human males, the testicles make sperm and, to do this, the temperature of the testicles needs to be cooler than the inside of the body, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center.

In the study published Tuesday, the researchers found that heat waves reduce male fertility and sperm competitiveness, and successive heat waves almost sterilize males, "the study said.

In addition, the offspring of the dads who'd endured the heat lived shorter lives.

"When it comes to heat waves and reproduction, males can not stand it," Sales concluded.

The study was published in Nature Communications, a peer-reviewed British journal.

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