No abstract

Causality for the seasonality of human births, which affects populations wordwide, has been a profound mystery for nearly two centuries. Most explanations for seasonality fail because of inconsistent global application. In two previous studies, Cummings (2002, 2003) hypothesized that human reproduction has been responsive to changes in both seasonal environmental light intensity (surface luminosity) and photoperiod. Except at higher latitudes, photoperiod is of secondary importance to that of environmental light intensity. Because of a lack of data, the presence or lack of cloud cover is used as a general proxy for environmental light intensity. These studies show a positive correlation between conceptual seasonality and cloud cover on a worldwide basis, and propose that there is a delay between exposure to increased light and the onset of conceptions. This delay is three months at higher latitudes and one to two months for lower latitudes. Both studies suggest that an excellent means of hypothesis confirmation would be to provide one or more examples of how a seasonal change in cloud cover might alter the number of conceptions in subsequent months. The present study tests this hypothesis. The percentage of possible sunshine and averaged sunshine hours are used to investigate their influence on seasonality of births in Germany and the Netherlands. The evidence shows that a seasonal change in environmental light intensity preceded a change in the peak months for conceptions in Germany and the Netherlands. Although secondary influences are possible, the primary reason for this transition in peak conceptual months seems to be related to the seasonal changes in environmental light intensity for both countries. Although this transitional relationship was predicted in Cummings (2002, 2003), further research is required, especially with regard to more precise measurements of environmental light intensity and its physiological effect on the human endocrine system.