How Climate Change Is Making Allergy Season Worse

Rising temperatures are leading to what my colleague Yasmin Tayag has called an “allergy apocalypse.” I spoke with Yasmin, who covers science for The Atlantic, about our ever-expanding allergy season, the relationship between rising temperatures and pollen, and the extent to which pollen may rob us of the pleasures of summer.

First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic:

More Than a Seasonal Annoyance

Lora Kelley: It’s barely spring, and it feels like people are already suffering from allergies on the East Coast. To what extent has allergy season been expanding in recent years—and is it still fair to call it a “season”?

Yasmin Tayag: There is a lot of research showing that pollen seasons are beginning earlier compared with several decades ago. They’re also more intense, in that there’s more pollen in the air. This is happening largely as a result of warming temperatures across the country.

For now, allergy season does have a start and end date—you can still call it a “season.” In general, tree pollen kicks off allergy season in early spring, then it’s caused by grasses in the spring and summer, and ragweed in the fall. But in some parts of the country, allergy season is thought to last even longer: Florida’s is almost year-round. In those cases, it’s not a matter of a season.

Lora: Could you walk me through the relationship between rising temperatures and rises in pollen?

Yasmin: On the whole, temperatures rising means we see more pollen for longer. When the temperatures are warmer earlier in the year, the trees start releasing and creating pollen earlier. An increased amount of carbon dioxide in the air is also thought to increase pollen production.

Not all plants respond to temperature in the same way. Predicting where allergies will be really bad also has to do with the plant life in that region and whether those plants are sensitive to temperature.

Lora: Why are some adults only recently starting to show allergy symptoms?

Yasmin: There are some people who are genetically predisposed to allergies. They get symptoms as soon as the pollen is in the air. Some people have a much higher pollen threshold, meaning they can be exposed to pollen for longer or handle a higher level of pollen exposure before showing symptoms for the first time. But with a much longer and more intense season, more people are meeting that threshold.

Your surrounding environment can also affect your allergies. If you live in a place that doesn’t have a ton of trees or is very cool, you might have fewer symptoms than someone with the same DNA living in a perpetually warm place.

Allergies can be more than a seasonal annoyance. They can be devastating for people who have asthma, in particular, because they can trigger asthma attacks.

Lora: Is there anything people can do to avoid this fate?

Yasmin: Not much. You can manage your exposure, and, in general, people can manage their symptoms.

As pollen levels go up year after year, people can get into the habit of checking the pollen count before they go outside. If it’s going to be an allergy day, take the necessary precautions to reduce your exposure. That can mean staying indoors as much as possible, or shutting your windows. In some instances, you might even want to change clothes when you enter the house so you don’t track pollen inside.

There are other therapies that are sometimes effective, such as exposure therapies, where over time you build up the amount of pollen you encounter so your body gets used to it. As an allergy sufferer myself, I recommend traveling with allergy medication; maybe your symptoms will spike in the middle of the day. And wear waterproof mascara.

Lora: How could higher pollen levels shift our relationship to nature and the outdoors?

Yasmin: I think it means spending less time outside, which is terrible. And what I really feel sad about is having to close your windows in the summertime—being shut out from the summer breeze. We already spend so much of the year cooped up indoors, and to further isolate ourselves indoors because there’s so much pollen in the air feels like missing out on the best parts of the warmer seasons.

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Stephanie Bai contributed to this newsletter.

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