It’s Not Just Your Imagination: Pollen Allergies Are Worsening, And Here’s Why
The arrival of spring is a relief after a long and dreary winter. Sunshine, green grass, blooming flowers, and chirping birds are the best sights to see.
However, it’s also the time of year when blankets of yellow cover every outside surface and your sinuses declare war.
If you sneeze your face off in the spring and feel like it somehow gets worse every year, you’re not wrong. It’s not just your imagination—pollen allergies really are worsening.
Even people who aren’t allergic to pollen can experience sneezing and watery eyes as the trees and plants release their pollen.
Thanks to climate change, longer growing seasons, and the wind, the amount of pollen is higher than ever, and your nose is paying the ultimate price.
So, there are two ways for trees to spread their pollen. The first option is to have a bee or butterfly deliver pollen to another plant of the same species.
The second option is to let pollen be carried by the wind. Wind was pollinating plants long before any animals evolved to become pollinators.
However, wind is not exactly the most efficient pollinator. Pollen grains have to be in the right place at the right time to be carried on the breeze, and the chances of that happening are close to none. As a result, trees that mainly rely on the wind for pollination must compensate by producing large amounts of pollen.
That means the air gets filled with microscopic grains of pollen that often end up making their way into your eyes, throat, and lungs.
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In comparison, plants that depend on animal pollinators produce heavier and stickier pollen that we are less likely to breathe in.
Plants also take cues from sunlight and temperature on when to start releasing pollen. Warmer temperatures signal the beginning of spring, and many tree species will respond to that. In the past three decades, pollen seasons have intensified as the planet’s climate has warmed up, according to several studies.
Additionally, rising carbon dioxide levels may be leading to increases in the amount of tree pollen being produced.
In the southeastern United States, windstorms are becoming stronger and more common. The region has been receiving more tornado warnings, severe thunderstorms, and power outages.
Windier conditions and increasing storm activity are transporting more and more pollen across greater distances, making allergies worse.
Storms are also breaking apart pollen grains into even tinier particles that reach your lungs. Many people may notice that their allergies are worse during storms.
It doesn’t help that the height of the wind and storm season overlaps with the release of tree pollen, resulting in what is arguably the most torturous time of the year for allergy sufferers.
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