For many people, emerging from the doldrums of winter into the vibrancy of spring is enlivening. It may even feel like good fortune when the traces of snow, ice, and freezing temperatures recede sooner than expected, giving way to an early spring. However, research shows these seasonal anomalies are indicators of large-scale climate change.
With the official arrival of spring and the tree, grass, and weed pollen it brings, Wyndly compiled research from academic journals, governmental departments, and nonprofit organizations to identify six ways climate change may impact you during allergy season.
Climate-driven seasonal transitions, while a breath of fresh air for some, mean worsening respiratory distress for more than 24 million allergy sufferers. A combination of warming climate and increased carbon dioxide emissions, both of which stimulate photosynthesis and pollen production, is leading to longer and more intense allergy seasons across the U.S.
A 2022 study conducted by the University of Michigan found that in 80 years, on the current environmental trajectory, pollen season could begin more than one month sooner and last 19 days later. Additionally, annual pollen emissions could more than triple by the end of the century.
But it is not just higher pollen counts that will affect allergy sufferers. Climate change is driving more intense and frequent weather events like megadroughts, wildfires, and thunderstorms, all of which can negatively impact respiratory functions by adding harmful pollutants to the air. These effects are not limited to hay fever sufferers. Conditions like asthma and COPD can be worsened by irritants like pollen that penetrate the lungs, exacerbating coughing, inflammation, and shortness of breath.
To mitigate the impacts of a prolonged allergy season, which is, at best, annoying, and at worst, life-threatening, atmospheric scientists aim to build real-time pollen forecasts by combining various meteorological and pollen collection data.
Continue reading to find out how climate change is impacting allergy season.
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