The Climate Crisis Becomes A ‘LUUUUVE’ Crisis

Will the climate crisis affect our sex lives? Global warming is having an impact on every aspect of our lives – including the way we have sex

Arielle Domb, 17August 2022 [from Dazed’s Future of Sex series]

“… [W]hen temperatures soar, every aspect of our lives is disrupted: from our mental cognition to our mobility, and even, it seems, to our ability to have sex…According to Harvard Medical School, having sex is regarded as a ‘mild to moderate’ physical activity, about the same intensity level as raking leaves or playing ping pong…Temperature and birth rate data clearly point towards the interconnection between sex and seasonality. In 2015, three economists found that on days when the temperature soared above 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the US, there were 0.4 per cent fewer births nine months later…

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…[T]he researchers found evidence that hot weather actually harms fertility too…[and tracked] conception rates in the UK, where more babies are conceived around Christmas than at any other time of the year…It’s not just our romantic connotations of snowy nights and fire-places…[Social science] suggests that we seek the warmth of others in order to regulate our own body temperatures just like penguins do…[Some science suggests] hot weather may make us hornier…[Sunlight releases] a feel-good chemical called serotonin…[and vitamin D which is] linked to higher sex drives and healthy sexual function…

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…[But] the health risks of blazing heat shouldn’t be understated: during the 2003 heatwave in France, there were close to 15,000 excess deaths…As extreme heatwaves are predicted to become the norm in the UK, our sex lives are set to undergo a radical transformation. It’s time for our governments and institutions to make long-term plans to address the climate crisis head-on…” click here for more

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