Global warming may be bad for asthma sufferers. Longer plant growing seasons are leading to weeds scattering vast amounts of pollen and conquering new territory, according to Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent for Reuters. By spring, pollen has been in the air for months in the northern hemisphere even in countries where snows normally bring a winter respite for allergics. In southern Sweden hazel trees have been flowering since December. “In the United States the incidence of asthma is up nearly four times since 1980,” said Paul Epstein, Associate Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School. “No one has really been looking at the aerobiology dimension (such as pollen). But I think it helps account for it,” he said. Any further warming will make things worse.
Epstein ran a study showing that ragweed produced 60 percent more pollen when grown under twice normal concentration of carbon dioxide. At the same time, the stalks grew only 10 percent more. “Warming is touted as good for agriculture, but weeds may be reacting disproportionately fast,” he said. “This is an issue with great importance for human health and agricultural yields.”
Sneezing my way through this blog, I kid you not. –Julia Whitty
