Feeling the Heat
Substantial Variation in Temperatures Does Not Affect the Proportion of Males Born in Australia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7990345 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Barnaby J Dixson, Barnaby James Wyld Dixson (0000-0003-0911-1244, Environmental Earth Sciences, corresponding author), John Haywood (0009-0006-9414-2801, Victoria University of Wellington), Philip J Lester (0000-0002-1801-5687, Victoria University of Wellington), Diane K Ormsby (0000-0002-3074-4639, Victoria University of Wellington) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 85 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 757-767 |
| Publication date | 2013-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Human Biology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-7143 • E-ISSN: 1534-6617 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/hub.2013.a541100 |
| OpenAlex | W4379532838 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 9 |
The global proportion of male births has been shown to vary with climate, with a higher proportion of male births documented in colder climates. Here we examined the hypothesis that ambient temperature predicts fluctuations in the proportion of male births in Australia and within seven Australian states using historical annual data spanning 1910–2009. We predicted that within states with tropical ambient temperatures the proportion of male births would decrease when ambient temperatures are higher. First, considering the national composite births for the whole of Australia, the proportion of males born ranged only from 0.510 to 0.517. We observed no relationship between the proportion of male births and the mean annual temperature in the concurrent or previous years for Australia as a whole. Second, the analyses for the seven Australian regions provided a total of 14 estimated relationships. We found no association between ambient temperature in the previous or concurrent year and the proportion of males born for all 14 comparisons. Thus, we found no evidence of a negative relationship between ambient temperatures in the concurrent or previous year and the proportion of males born in the tropical regions of Australia, and no evidence of any relationship in the more temperate Australian regions or in Australia as a whole
Biology · Geography · Temperate climate · Tropical climate · Birth, Development, and Health · Climate Change and Health Impacts · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Ecology
Relation between Elevated Ambient Temperature and Mortality
Why men have shorter lives than women
The health of Arctic populations
Sex ratios in the arctic—do man‐made chemicals matter
Selection in utero
Declining male births with increasing geographical latitude in Europe
Selection in utero contributes to the male longevity deficit
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |