Something Is Causing Our Eyeballs to Elongate

Human eyesight is degrading right before our eyes, and the problem is growing

Photo: John Moore/Getty Images

Human eyeballs are growing longer, from front to back, at an alarming rate, resulting in a spike in the prevalence of myopia, or nearsightedness. Among Americans, rates of myopia have increased from 25% of people in 1971 to more than 40% today, according to…