Study links Earth's warming climate to pollen and longer allergy season
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- On the first full day of spring, ABC13 learned how climate change is leading to longer allergy seasons not only in Southeast Texas but across the country. Our partners at Climate Central released a new study Wednesday that links the Earth's warming climate to pollen and our seasonal allergies.
As more carbon is released into the atmosphere, those molecules help trap heat from the sun. This aids in a gradual warming of the Earth's climate, and that means warmer, spring-like temperatures can occur earlier in the year, allowing plants to wake up and release pollen sooner, thus extending allergy seasons. This means seasonal allergies, like trees, weeds, and grass, can start sooner in the spring and last longer into fall.
In Houston and Southeast Texas, we're accustomed to seasonal allergies as we can have them year-round. That is because we don't always have a hard freeze that stops the growing season in the winter. In the study released Wednesday, our partners at Climate Central found that other cities across the country are beginning to see their allergy seasons start earlier and last longer related to climate change. So, cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Raleigh are beginning to have longer spring allergy seasons by as much as 31 days.
Furthermore, the study points out how seasonal allergies are increasingly impacting children. One in five, nearly 14 million kids, are now expected to develop a seasonal allergy of some kind. As the global climate warms, research shows that a warming of two degrees Celsius could result in a 17% increase in asthma-related emergency room visits due to pollen exposure. Specifically, allergic rhinitis, or hay fever, with symptoms of sneezing, coughing, itchy or watery eyes, and runny nose, are common when you're exposed to new pollen types.
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