Warm spring air is a welcome relief from the intensely cold winters of most of the United States, but millions of seasonal allergic patients are buried under the pollen, with sneezing, headaches, watery eyes and stuffing returning indoors.
Already, Atlanta has broken pollen count records, spitting 14,801 grains per cubic metre from pine, oak and birch trees. Houston also reported its highest pollen count since 2013, when records began.
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) predicts 2025 will be an even more brutal year for seasonal allergies across the country. Your red eyes and runaway nose won't deceive you – your seasonal allergies have worsened, and the miserable reality for one in three adults in the US and one in four children.
why? Sneezing and sniffles are part of the siren of climate change. In fact, due to global warming, pollen is currently a threat in parts of the United States almost all year round. Pollen, the main seasonal allergy trigger, appears at higher concentrations at the beginning of the year and continues year by year. “In spring, the first pollen allergens come from trees and start 20 days earlier than they were 30 years ago,” said Kenneth Mendes, CEO of AAFA. Increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are directly inducing plants to produce more pollen while increasing the temperature conditions of the plants.
“We've always not been allergies, so we've started to have allergies,” or “it feels like our allergies are getting worse,” because the allergy burden is much higher due to climate change,” Mendes said.
For most people, seasonal allergies can be an unpleasant nuisance. But with millions of people in mind Blur At the same time, a decline in productivity will be a major economic burden. Asthma, allergic rhinitis – a condition that is probably known as a fever in hay – and associated allergic conditions spend billions of dollars each year on lost work days, medications, and doctor visits.
Others have the potential to exacerbate pollen as a more serious problem, which can exacerbate dangerous complications and other health issues. One study found that pollen allergies lead to 25,000 to 50,000 emergency room visits per year.
Over time, as pollen numbers increase, more people with higher sensitivity thresholds find the hard way these small grains are being dangerous. Others also know that some of the smallest pollen grains permeate, so doors and windows cannot protect them.
“I think if the trendline continues, more people will feel miserable from allergies,” Mendes said.
How to keep your allergies worsening for yourself
The problem for allergic patients is that the body's defense mechanisms can overreact to something benign. Usually, it leads to mild, easily treatable symptoms. However, allergens can also cause more serious complications, such as asthma attacks, causing wheezing, chest tension and shortness of breath. In rare cases, they can lead to anaphylaxis. This is a systemic response that can close the airways and cause blood pressure to drop to dangerously low levels.
While most pollen allergies are more nuisance than danger, seasonal pollen is ubiquitous and evacuation is almost impossible.
Some people are more sensitive than others, but relentless, growing exposure can be miserable even for people with mild allergies. The pollen grain ranges from 100 to 10 microns, allowing it to penetrate deep into the lungs and stimulate the airways. Many types of plants release pollen as part of the reproductive cycle. Generally, trees spread pollen in spring, grass in summer, and rugweed in autumn.
However, the historic pollen timing patterns have already shifted.
Tree pollen is shaken from the branches almost every year early in the season. We see some grass species have almost a month behind in pollen release dates, but the overall season has been longer. As a result, grass pollen has increasingly overlapped with the rugweed pollen season, which has been extended for more than three weeks in some parts of the country since 1995.
There are two important mechanisms driving this trend, both induced by human appetite for fossil fuels. Increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to the combustion of coal, oil and natural gas lead to direct inducing many plant species to produce more pollen. Carbon dioxide can lead to more pollen as it allows plants to grow bigger and faster and produce more flowers. The more pollen you have, the more seeds you have. This means that more plants will spray pollen next season.
Higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are also warming the planets and changing the climate. Generally, it means warmer, shorter winters and previous springs, leading to longer seasons of plant growth. These trends continue as global average temperatures rise, creating a significant public health burden for allergies.
Some countries such as Texas are doing well to ensure that pollen numbers will almost double by 2050 compared to 2000.
It's not just pollen you have to worry about
For many people, allergies are additional complications in addition to other health and environmental conditions. Air pollution from ozone, microparticles, sulfur and nitrogen compounds can cause unique respiratory problems, but cross-over with allergies can make symptoms even worse. Contamination from the road makes pollen from nearby plants more powerful in causing allergic reactions. Smoke from wildfires can also aggravate allergies.
The city may not be evacuated much. Landscape changes such as urbanization can create more favorable habitats for plants like ragweed. Additionally, urban centers tend to warm faster than rural environments and have higher concentrations of air pollutants, exacerbating the effects of allergies. These factors are particularly strong in low-income and underserved communities.
Pollen is not the only allergen that changes with the climate. Increased temperature and precipitation in some areas increase the number and duration of allergic mold spores. Extreme weather exacerbates the problem even further as damage and destruction creates conditions for more mold. That was evident in New Orleans last year as storms like Hurricane Francine soaked the city.
“When these storms pass through, they cause great damage to the state's landscape. Some communities have the resources to get into the roof and repair it and repair windows right away. Then there's a roof leak. “It's so warm here that you can grow mold every year as long as you have moisture.”
Strong winds from storms can also raise dust and can cause asthma. Additionally, there is a phenomenon known as thunderstorm asthma, where weather conditions can cause pollen grains to burst into smaller allergic fragments, causing asthma attacks.
It is not clear whether the total number of people with seasonal allergies is increasing. The United States may be approaching plateaus with the number of people susceptible to pollen, Carlson said. At the same time, there are other conditions that can cause symptoms like allergies, and at sufficient concentrations even non-allergy will wheeze.
“New Orleans has a ton of oak pollen, meaning there's a lot of oak pollen in the air. And despite this, there are a lot of people who don't have itchy oak pollen allergies.
The good news is that there are ways to contain the worst effects of seasonal allergies. For people with a history of nasty seasonal allergies, it is important to look at allergists and find out what a particular trigger is and which medications work. It makes sense to start taking medications like nasal sprays and over-the-counter allergy medications before the pollen has risen.
“We generally say we put your medication in your system two weeks ago because it takes time for it to accumulate,” Mendes said. For those who don't know if they have an allergy or not, but are worried about the threat, pay attention to your symptoms and look at an allergist when they start experiencing frustrating eyes and airways. There are also more aggressive interventions for people with severe allergies that do not respond to other drugs, such as desensitization therapy, also known as allergy shots.
Some of the same measures to avoid air pollution can also help with pollen. Beware of local pollen predictions. Avoid the outside and nearby doors and windows, especially in the morning, when pollen release times are high. Put your coat and shoes outside or lock them in before you settle in the house. After a walk, wipe the dog off. Use HEPA air filters in your living space.
In the long term, it is wise to control the emission of heat trapped gases that exacerbate climate change and allergies. For now, keep the organization close by.
