Climate change The allergy season is over, and the pollen count is higher, but you haven’t sneezed yet.
Climate scientists at the University of Michigan analyzed 15 different plant pollens in the United States and used computer simulations to calculate how much worse the allergy season will be in 2100. That’s enough to do. that allergy sufferers have even more red eyes.
How the world is heating upthe allergy season will begin weeks earlier and end many days later, and will be worse for as long as it lasts, with pollen levels that could triple in some places, according to a new study Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.
The warmer climate allows the plants to start flowering earlier and makes them bloom later. Meanwhile, the additional carbon dioxide in the air from the combustion of fuels such as coal, gasoline and natural gas helps plants produce more pollen, said study co-author Allison Steiner, a climate scientist. of the University of Michigan.
Is it’s already happening. A study from a year ago by different researchers found that from 1990 to 2018, pollen has increased and the allergy season begins earlier, with much of it climate change.
Allergists say the pollen season in the U.S. used to start around St. Patrick’s Day and now it often starts around Valentine’s Day.
The new study found that the allergy season would be even longer and the total amount of pollen would skyrocket. How long and how much depends on the pollen in particular, the location and how many greenhouse gas emissions are released into the air.
With moderate cuts greenhouse gas emissions of coal, oil and natural gas, the pollen season would begin 20 days earlier at the turn of the century. In the most extreme and increasingly unlikely warming scenario, the pollen season in much of America will begin 40 days earlier than when it has generally begun in recent decades.
About 30 percent of the world’s population and 40 percent of American children suffer from pollen allergies, which hurt the economy due to the loss of working days and medical costs, the climate researcher said. of the University of Michigan Yingxiao Zhang, lead author of the new study.
Allergies are especially difficult for the 25 million Americans with asthma. This could make the problem much worse for them, said Amir Sapkota, a professor of environmental health at the University of Maryland, who was not part of the investigation.
While allergy suffering will increase in the United States, the Southeast will be the hardest hit, Steiner said.
The start of the alder pollen season will move more dramatically, a problem in the Pacific Northwest. Cypress pollen, which is especially bad in Texas, will have one of the largest increases.
Ambrosia and herbs (common allergies to pollen) will also have longer seasons and a higher pollen count in the future, Zhang said.
University of Michigan team projections would be about double the jump in pollen problems since 1990, said Bill Anderegg, a biologist and climate scientist at the University of Utah. .
“Overall, this is an incredibly important study,” said Anderegg, who was not involved in the new research. “It tells us that historical trends in longer and more severe pollen seasons are likely to continue, driven by climate change, and this will have absolutely substantial health consequences for allergies and asthma for northerners. -americans “.
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