Allergy Season Longer From Global Warming In North America

Have allergies? Brace yourself, because thanks to global warming, pollen season's now getting a lot longer in North America.

A recent study conducted by 20 researchers reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that due to a rise in global warming, even more weeks of pollen season have been tacked on to the sniffly time of year. According to Scientific American, since 1995, Minneapolis has added 16 days to its ragweed pollen season, and Saskatoon, Canada has added 27 days. There was a notable correlation between latitude and the number of additional pollen days. Upper latitudes are warming faster than mid-latitudes, and the pollen season is increasing with the warming. Because of this, areas of northern North America are seeing additional weeks added on to their traditional allergy season.

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, 50 million Americans have allergies, which can sometimes in turn trigger asthma. Ragweed allergies, or hayfever, affects up to 30% of Americans. In the past few years, pediatric physician Dr. Nancy Ott has received "a lot more desperate calls." This past spring, the U.S. experienced what ABC News dubbed a "pollen explosion like most of the country has never seen."

Not just people with allergies should be concerned with these findings. For many, pollen doesn't become an irritant until it crosses a certain threshold - the longer season and more powerful plants may be the threshold needed to trigger allergies. As Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America's Mike Tringale reports, "Now you've got yourself a much wider population that could potentially be affected that might not have been affected before."

This report comes on the heels of recent findings showing other health hazards of global warming. Reports show that climate change has contributed to increased exposure to toxic chemicals, thousands of deaths from heatwaves, and a massive food crisis.

As a thin film of pollen covers gas guzzling cars come next allergy season, could it be just another price we'll pay for our contribution to global warming?

Comments

[JaxReader]

12:04 PM on 03/09/2011

Running a medical facility, I can definitely attest that statistically the volume of patients with allergy related issues has increased (at least locally) both in severity, and in duration. There is a trend of it beginning sooner, and lasting longer.

I understand my local observations are obviously not enough to support the entire conclusion or provide insight as to its cause. Just sharing what I am seeing and know.

[StephenBP]

08:02 AM on 02/25/2011

Melting glaciers, lengthening growing seasons, missing Arctic Ice, growing CO2 concentration, rising food prices......

Everything is happening right on schedule.

But the fossil fuel crowd can't/won't/ believe the evidence.

I guess the brilliance of increasing fossil fuel profits kind of blinds them to any other evidence.

Have a nice (sniffle..) spring....

[wdw808]

02:13 AM on 02/23/2011

that just means the growing season is longer..........more food can be grown

[chrisd3]

05:59 AM on 02/23/2011

Not if there isn't enough water, or if there's too much water, or if the crops don't like the changed climate, or if pests that didn't like the climate in a region move in because now they do, or, ...

If the environment were as simple as you think, it would be much easier. Unfortunately, it's not. It is not simply a matter of it being a few degrees warmer. That is the least of the problem.

[wdw808]

09:49 AM on 02/23/2011

well good for you......complaining of my over simplifying things with some over simplification of your own

laughing

[Whiskeyman09]

11:59 AM on 03/11/2011

Things will be so much better once we get the climate back to normal. What is that again?

Just tell us where we need to send all the checks!

[Nuyorican21]

09:42 AM on 02/23/2011

You mean more high fructose corn syrup or ethanol.

[wdw808]

09:50 AM on 02/23/2011

that too

[BlueZoo]

11:57 PM on 02/22/2011

I walked out on my patio today and, within 30 minutes, I couldn't breathe! I noticed the redbuds are in bloom, as are all of the hardwoods and this is just the beginning of a really bad season for me. It's been very Spring-like in GA for the last week and everything has popped. Next week, it's supposed to be back in the 20s but nothing will change if we don't get rain to tamp this stuff down. The idea that this is only February and we are in for a longer allergy season just chills me.

[Joe Friday]

07:55 PM on 02/22/2011

The hotter it gets, the longer it takes for these damn weeds to impregnate each other. Is this the "pollen dysfunction syndrome" we have been fearing? Damn Global Warming!, Sorry, Global Disruption or is it Climate Change? Whatever the term of the day is!! Damn it!

[ILoveFiction]

05:36 AM on 02/23/2011

Hah!

Just the facts. Plus a bit of sarcasm.

[FredBrighton]

07:47 PM on 02/22/2011

The local town has a policy of going out at the peak of the wildflower season, when daylilies, Queen Annes lace, sunflowers and chickory are in full bloom and mowing down all the plants along the roadside, changing a vibrant colorful display into a 10' swath of dead plants, brown and ragged. The ragweed grows lower than the flowers, which inhibit the growth of the ragweed by blocking sunlight. Once the flowers are killed the ragweed grows uninhibited. As a result when cars drive down the road you can see a cloud of yellow pollen tossed up by the breeze. In point of fact the ragweed is forming a dense carpet alongside the roads preventing flowers from growing. It's costly, ugly, destructive and spikes the pollen count to new levels. But just try to get the town to consider not mowing down the flowers! Oh, we can't have a colorful display alongside the roads, we must have brown dead plants, shredded sumac and a dense happy carpet of ragweed. Somebody explain this to me.

[AKDavy]

05:01 PM on 02/22/2011

The Power Elite can afford the finest antihistamines. Climate change is like economics and war--those making the decisions are not the ones suffering from those decisions.

[VirginiaJeff]

04:55 PM on 02/22/2011

 
Man!  I'm 50 years old, and starting about three years ago, I noticed my allergy "season" was lasting a lot longer.  I thought it was just happening to me.

[3Feathers]

03:59 PM on 02/22/2011

Been saying that for years... You don't need to be a scientist, just observant.

[ILoveFiction]

05:39 AM on 02/23/2011

I say if you say it enough it could even be statistically significant.

And I say that a lot so it must be true.

Frank Luntz told me that. A whole bunch of times.

[Susan Osterhout Troiano]

03:12 PM on 02/22/2011

Crap I feel another headache comming on. It's called a change in our enviroment that is sucking our immune system out of our body slowly.

[T4]

01:45 PM on 02/22/2011

Glabal warming causes toilet bowl ring as well. Allergies are the result of your body's sensitivity to certain environmental elements - pollens. Your sensitivity will increase with a crappy diet - get a good nutriional plan and the right high quality supplements and your senstitivity will decrease dramatically in notime.

[chrisd3]

01:58 PM on 02/22/2011

And the empircal fact that there is more pollen for a longer period of time couldn't possibly be a factor, right?

[VirginiaJeff]

04:56 PM on 02/22/2011

From the article:
 
"According to Scientific American, since 1995, Minneapolis has added 16 days to its ragweed pollen season, and Saskatoon, Canada has added 27 days."

[Tenore]

12:19 PM on 02/22/2011

I'm confused. I thought that Global Warming was the cause of the colder winters we've been having. Al Gore said so on his website. How can the allergy season be getting longer when our winters are getting colder due to human-caused higher CO2 levels?

[ILoveFiction]

12:28 PM on 02/22/2011

Yep.

You're confused.

[chrisd3]

12:54 PM on 02/22/2011

Here, I have two recommendations that should help lessen your confusion:

1. Spend more time studying the science.

2. Spend less time obsessing about Al Gore.

[T4]

01:49 PM on 02/22/2011

Chris, the person has a right to be confused the contradictory messages and immature sciencethathas poeple making sweeping pronouncements suspect because tehy are designed to shove a political agenda that makles no ssnse down people's throats. Don't let your own propaganda blind you - bet youthink the bank bailouts and bonus from Obama were designed tot help the economy and not save a bunch of connected bankers at our expense.

[katmeyster]

11:58 AM on 02/22/2011

I'm already having allergy symptoms -- beginning with the big warm up (all-time record broken) after the big freeze down (all-time record broken) here in Southern New Mexico. February! Waking up sneezing with a headache and eyes all crusted over (sorry).

But I guess we're not having any global climate change, and I guess its just the imagination of the thermometers and the scientists .......

Let's not do anything rash that might cut into the multi-national corporations' profits.