Climate change will make this allergy season worse

New research shows that allergy season will start much earlier and be more severe as climate change worsens. 

According to a study published Tuesday in the scientific journal Nature Communications, allergy season will start several weeks earlier and end five to 15 days later. 

The study concluded that changes in temperature and precipitation could increase daily pollen emission by 35% to 40% and annual emission by 16% to 40%. 

Seasonal allergies affect about 60 million Americans each year. 

“Pollen is something that is on people’s radar because it influences their daily lives if you are allergic,” Allison Steiner, author of the study and professor at the University of Michigan, told CNN. “A huge component of the population is affected by these allergies, and people are interested in understanding how [their allergies] might change so they can manage their symptoms better.”

Temperature increases allow plants to bloom earlier and stay healthy for longer. Allergists say that the season usually has started around St. Patrick’s Day, but it has moved closer to Valentine’s Day. 

The study found that different tree pollens — which previously had varied in timing — could begin overlapping, increasing concentrations, and affect public health. 

“Some people are allergic to certain pollen; some are not, and some have more allergenic proteins that can drive more allergies. If you’re an allergy sufferer, you may or may not know what you’re allergic to, depending on what kind of testing you’ve done,” Ms. Steiner said. “The [projected] higher concentrations of pollen is in addition to what you might be allergic to individually.”