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posted by chromas on Saturday March 30 2019, @11:00AM   Printer-friendly
from the time-to-buy-up-stock-in-tissue-makers dept.

Changes in Onset of Spring Linked to More Allergies Across the US:

Human-induced climate change is disrupting nature's calendar, including when plants bloom and the spring season starts, and new research from the University of School of Public Health suggests we're increasingly paying the price for it in the form of seasonal allergies.

The study, based on over 300,000 respondents between 2002 and 2013, shows that seasonal allergic rhinitis, or hay fever, increases when the timing of spring "greenup" changes. The findings were published today in the journal PLOS ONE.

"We found that areas where the onset of spring was earlier than normal had 14% higher prevalence of hay fever," said Associate Professor Amir Sapkota in the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health. "Surprisingly, we also found similar risk in areas where the onset of spring was much later than what is typical for that geographic location," he added.

The study provides the first national-level quantitative data showing how ongoing climate change is increasing the allergic disease burden in the United States. Hay fever, or "seasonal allergic rhinitis," affects 25 million adults in the United States and results in $11.2 billion in related medical expenses annually.

[...] The reason for increased hay fever when spring arrives early seems to be related to pollen exposure. An earlier onset of spring means trees flower sooner and create a longer season for tree pollen, which is the major source of spring seasonal allergens. But a very late onset of spring may mean many species of trees simultaneously burst in bloom, blasting allergy suffers with a high concentration of pollen for a shorter duration.

Journal Reference:
Amir Sapkota, et. al. Associations between alteration in plant phenology and hay fever prevalence among US adults: Implication for changing climate. PLOS ONE, 2019; 14 (3): e0212010 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212010

How many Soylentils suffer from seasonal allergies and how do you deal with it?


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 31 2019, @06:16AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 31 2019, @06:16AM (#822653)

    Yeah but that doesn't really explain the past several thousand years of warming and cooling, it just claims things were a-ok without us around and says if you don't agree you are a Nazi.