Are your allergies getting worse? It could be due to the affects of climate change on pollen

Erica Van Buren, Augusta Chronicle
·3 min read
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Experts say that symptoms of climate change are impacting the allergy season, especially as it relates to its affects on pollen.

“When the pollen season starts is determined by sunlight,” said Dr. Kathleen May, division chief of allergy immunology and pediatric rheumatology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. “Climate change could be shifting the peaks to start earlier. Especially depending on where you are in the country.

"The data is suggesting that the peaks are earlier even far north of here. So there's more of it and it's peaking earlier.”

Kathleen May, division chief of allergy immunology and pediatric rheumatology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.
Kathleen May, division chief of allergy immunology and pediatric rheumatology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

May is also the program director for the allergy immunology fellowship.

The changing climate has caused shifts in precipitation patterns, more frost-free days, warmer seasonal air temperatures, and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

These changes can affect:

  • When the pollen season starts, ends and how long it lasts each year.

  • How much pollen plants create and how much is in the air.

  • How pollen affects human health.

  • Some of these changes in pollen due to climate change could have major impacts on human health such as increasing individuals’ exposure to pollen and their risk of having allergy and or asthma symptoms.

“Your typical ragweed, a weed pollen active in the fall, has about 1 billion pollen grains,” said May. “There's evidence from some studies on ragweed that those plants are getting bigger and have more pollen when exposed to carbon dioxide.

"Plants obviously like carbon dioxide, they need it for growth. But it makes their pollen production more robust.”

May said determining when the allergy season starts can depend on the specific allergen.

“Certain parts of the country have mold more seasonally,” said May. “In Georgia, mold is a year-round issue and it is everywhere. It’s suppressed only when the temperatures go below freezing. The tree pollen season starts approximately during the last week of January and runs through, typically, April. The grass season typically starts in March, maybe February and runs through summer. If you're allergic to grass pollen you might experience symptoms for almost six months out of the year.”

Lily Hwang, MD, with Atlanta Allergy & Asthma
Lily Hwang, MD, with Atlanta Allergy & Asthma

Dr. Lily Hwang, with Atlanta Allergy & Asthma, said when calculating the pollen count the daily number represents the number of pollen grains in a cubic meter of air over the previous 24 hours.

“Spring pollen comes from the hardwood trees − oak, pine, birch, sweet gum, hickory, sycamore, hackberry, mulberry,” said Hwang. “In Georgia we have a much longer allergy season. Longer exposure leads to increase in symptoms due to being exposed to multiple phases of pollen from the initial exposure, priming effect, to the continued exposure leading to worsening symptoms.

“This is also due to the fact that Georgia has milder winters; therefore, plants don’t stay dormant for very long leading to prolonged exposure.”

Goldenrod or ragweed? : Wondering what's causing you to sneeze this fall? It could be one of these plants.

Some allergy symptoms

“Allergy symptoms are fairly broad,” said May. “The nasal symptoms are going to be sneezing, itching, congestion, postnasal drainage, those are the classic symptoms. You can get eye itching, redness and swelling. Some people will have skin itching with it and some eczema. Some people experience respiratory symptoms. They may even feel an itchy feeling in their chest.”

Treatment options

“If you’re going to be outside in the pollen, when you get home change your clothes and shower,” said May. “The thing people forget to do is use a nasal saline solution to rinse off your nose and get the pollen out. If you know you're going to have an issue with the tree season or grass season, it's best to start medicines about two weeks in advance.”

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with several funders and Journalism Funding Funding Partners.

Erica Van Buren is the climate change reporter for The Augusta Chronicle, part of the USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at EVanBuren@gannett.com or on X: @EricaVanBuren32.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Climate change affects when the pollen season starts, ends, experts say