The planet Earth has a problem—a bad case of advanced-stage humanity. It is much more virulent and far more dangerous than a mere coronavirus, which threatens only a few species. Advanced-stage humanity threatens all species, indeed all life on the planet except perhaps those microbes that live in the darkest, deepest corners.

But help may be on the way. And from a surprising source. From humans themselves. Humans threaten their own species in various ways, of course, and now it appears they’ve come up with yet a new way. They are sterilizing themselves.

An environmental and reproductive epidemiologist at Icahn School of Medicine in New York warns that, “The current state of reproductive affairs can’t continue much longer without threatening human survival.” It seems that human sperm counts in the West dropped 59 percent in less than 40 years. Extrapolating the decline means they’ll reach zero in 2045. And it’s not only sperm. The fertility of human females may also be dropping.

The reasons, according to the scientist, are chemicals in the environment and unhealthy lifestyle practices including smoking, marijuana use and obesity. These are disrupting humans’ hormonal balance, “causing various degrees of reproductive havoc.”

So the bad news is advanced-stage humanity. The good news is they’ve almost run their course and the planet should be on the mend soon.