![Countdown](https://cdn.waterstones.com/bookjackets/large/9781/9821/9781982113674.jpg)

I finished reading the book Countdown by Shanna H. Swan, PhD today. It has taken me nearly the entire month to get through as it was not an easy read. I'm a self taught computer programmer that thinks in code, I know a lot more now about the science of human biology and reproductive systems that I ever thought I would! 😂

Now that I've read it I am concerned about the future and ultimately the survival of the Human race. 

I first heard about this book when Shanna went on the Joe Rogan podcast. If you'd prefer to listen to Shanna explain it then you can find that [here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/6pLW2tMx4Kw5qaeAcxj0Lj?si=1508a94d9dbb40f5).

I don't want to spoil the book so I will only briefly mention what it covers and use facts and figures from the cover of the book itself. I impore you to pick a copy up and give it a read for yourself, especially if you're hoping to have children of your own in the future!

The book begins by giving you quite a detailed background on how the male and female reproductive systems work and then analyses the data on global birth rates and male sperm quality. The data shows that both have been rapidly declining! Worldwide fertility rates have dropped more than 50% over the past 50 years and are still falling.

Did you know men today have half the sperm that their grandfathers had and in many places in the world a woman in her 20's is less fertile than her grandmother was at 35!

The book really goes into a lot of detail about reproductive systems and all the things that can affect peoples chances of reproducing successfully. I know from now on I would give a copy of this book to any friends/family that planning to have a baby or are struggling to conceive. 

The book covers things that are under a persons control like diet and lifestyles and but unfortunately this is only a tiny part of the story. As I've learned from listening to Shanna and reading the book we as humans are bombarded with chemicals in our food, packaging, cosmetic products, childrens toys the list goes on and on. They are literally everywhere and they are absolutely wrecking both humans and nature.

Lots of the products we use contain something called Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals like BPA and Phthalates. Here is how Wikipedia explains Endocrine Disruptors.

> Endocrine disruptors, sometimes also referred to as hormonally active agents, endocrine disrupting chemicals, or endocrine disrupting compounds are chemicals that can interfere with endocrine (or hormonal) systems. These disruptions can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects, and other developmental disorders. Found in many household and industrial products, endocrine disruptors "interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, binding, action, or elimination of natural hormones in the body that are responsible for development, behavior, fertility, and maintenance of homeostasis (normal cell metabolism)

These chemicals are known as forever chemicals and they exist in your body and in the environment forever. They can even affect not just your direct children but also your childrens children. They are wreaking havoc with wildlife. They are changing our hormones but they are also causing fish to be born gay and even transexual. When Alex Jones said "they're turning the Frogs Gay" and every body laughed at him, turns out he wasn't far off!

The book covers these chemicals in detail and tells you where you can find them and how to avoid them. There are calls to action and various different organisations and initiatives are trying to change the regulatory laws so we can get these dangerous chemicals banned and out of our environments.

I really hope they succeed because the way things are going, if things don't change we're doomed as a species. Did you know that Humans could now officially be placed on the endangered species list?! Of the different qualifiers Humans now safely check 3 out of 5. Already in many places around the world Humans are not replacing their aging populations at a rate that will gaurantee survival. Population collapse is a very real threat. A far bigger danger than over-population (which is a myth).

One thing that I couldn't stop wondering as I was reading the book was "where are all the activists"?

We seem to have a never ending supply of activists protesting things like Climate Change and whatever the news story of the month is. Why is nobody concerned that we're all being poisoned every day and quite literally on the brink of extinction? 

We'll be long gone before we need to worry about Climate Change...

COUNTDOWN

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