Climate Change: Bad News for Baby Boys? | Mother Jones
Generally, mothers are less likely to automatically miscarry male fetuses very early in gestation when it's warm, and more likely to do so [miscarry] when it's cold, because baby boys are more "frail" in early life than baby girls. But according to the study, warm temperatures could trick more newly-pregnant mothers—or rather, their bodies—into keeping male fetuses they might otherwise have rejected for genetic weakness. Although that would mean an increase in the total number of births, it would also lead to an increase in the number who die young if those baby boys then experience cold temperatures early on, thus driving down average life expectancy.
In essence, Catalano said, those are boys who never should have been born in the first place. But climate change makes it harder for mothers to, biologically speaking, determine whether a fetus will be resilient as a child.
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That kind of argument has all the ingredients to become a rational for racism. In an effort to fluff up anxiety where there should be none, some very potent seeds of intolerance are being sown. People making arguments like this on the flimsiest of logic need to think through how others can twist the interpretation of their claims.
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