Bad news for hay fever sufferers as new report shows climate change is making pollen season longer

Seasonal allergy sufferers are being hit with more pollen over a longer season due to rising temperatures, and global warming is also triggering alarming extreme allergy events.

How climate change is worsening pollen allergies

Climate change is altering the release pattern of pollens, changing the timing and magnitude of pollen release with flowering plants. Warmer air temperatures, increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, shifts in precipitation, and fewer frost days are affecting how much pollen plants create and how long the pollen season lasts each year.

These changes increase pollen concentrations and extend pollen seasons, heightening health effects for more people. Pollen is an airborne allergen that can trigger symptoms of hay fever, or allergic rhinitis, when allergens like pollen enter the body and the immune system wrongly sees them as threats.

Extreme allergy events linked to thunderstorms

Global warming is also triggering extreme allergy events. During thunderstorms, trillions of pollen particles can be sucked up into clouds, where they are splintered by rain, lightning, and humidity into ever-smaller fragments before being cast back down to Earth for people to breathe in.

In November 2016, Melbourne, Australia experienced a catastrophic thunderstorm asthma event. Emergency service phone lines lit up as people struggled to breathe, flooding hospitals. There was so much demand for ambulances that vehicles were unable to reach patients stuck at home. Emergency rooms saw eight times as many people turning up with breathing problems as normal, and nearly 10 times as many people with asthma were admitted to hospital. In total, 10 people died, including a 20-year-old law student who passed away on her lawn although waiting for an ambulance.

One survivor described how he had been breathing normally and then, within 30 minutes, found himself gasping for air. “It was insane,” he told reporters from his hospital bed.

Paul Beggs, an environmental health scientist and professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, called the event “absolutely massive,” “unprecedented,” and “catastrophic.”

Health impacts of increased pollen exposure

Increased pollen exposure can trigger various allergic reactions, including symptoms of hay fever such as sneezing, runny nose, and congestion. Allergic conjunctivitis, or eye lining inflammation due to pollen exposure, affects up to 30% of the general population and 70% of allergic rhinitis patients, with symptoms including red, watery, or itchy eyes.

Allergic rhinitis affects up to 60 million people annually in the United States alone, and climate change is increasing the risk of experiencing allergy symptoms for more people worldwide.

What this means for allergy sufferers

As climate change continues to drive rising temperatures and extreme weather events, hay fever sufferers can expect longer pollen seasons, higher pollen concentrations, and an increased risk of severe allergic reactions, including thunderstorm-related asthma events.

Staying informed about local pollen forecasts, limiting outdoor exposure during high pollen days, and consulting with healthcare providers about appropriate allergy management strategies are important steps for those affected by seasonal allergies.