Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

For the past few weeks or so, my eyes have been scratchy and I’ve had a runny nose. And I’m not alone. A lot of people are feeling the effects of spring allergies and they seem even more intense this year. That made us wonder, does climate change have anything to do with this? 

We had Harrison Katz and Fatima Husain from our Possibly team look into this question. Welcome, Harrison and Fatima!

Harrison Katz: Hi, Megan! 

Fatima Husain: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So, before we talk about climate change, will you just explain how seasonal allergies work? Why do I feel this way in the spring?

Harrison Katz: To figure that out, we spoke with Dr. Julie Zweig, a physician in Atlanta, Georgia.

Julie Zweig: My specialty is ear, nose and throat, allergy, and sleep medicine.

Fatima Husain: Julie says that seasonal allergies happen when your immune system thinks pollen, or other substances in the air, are a threat. 

Julie Zweig: The body sees something… as a dangerous substance… or something that will cause harm to the body, and attacks it. 

Harrison Katz: The itchy eyes, coughing, and sneezing you feel? That’s actually your immune system reacting to the foreign substance and trying to get rid of it, just like it would with bacteria or viruses.

Fatima Husain: And allergies often flare-up in the springtime because that’s when many trees and plants release pollen.

Megan Hall: Are allergy seasons getting worse? 

Harrison Katz: Julie seems to think so. 

Julie Zweig: In my own practice, I have a lot of people coming in saying things like, wow, I have never been allergic to anything in my life. And now all of a sudden, my allergies are awful.

Megan Hall: What does this have to do with climate change? 

Harrison Katz: Climate change affects air temperatures and the intensity of our weather. And that affects how early pollen season begins, how intense it is, and how long it will last. 

Megan Hall: So, is climate change making my seasonal allergies more intense??

Fatima Husain: Dr. William Anderegg, at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Utah, actually conducted a study that examined whether and why pollen seasons are changing.  

William Anderegg: I suffer from fairly severe allergies myself. 

Megan Hall: What did he find out?

Fatima Husain: He says in North America— 

William Anderegg: Since the 1990s, pollen seasons have gotten longer. They’re starting about 20 days earlier, and they’ve gotten about 10 days longer. And there’s actually more pollen in the air during pollen season. 

Harrison Katz: To figure out why, William’s research team gathered data on pollen seasons from around the world, and used computer models to isolate what might be influencing them. He says the culprit was clear. 

William Anderegg: Human caused climate change is really the dominant driver of pollen season length and plays a moderate role in the pollen season severity, the amount of pollen in the air. 

Megan Hall: So, climate change is DEFINITELY affecting our allergy seasons?

Fatima Husain: Exactly. William says it’s a reminder that climate change is affecting us right now.

William Anderegg: Climate change is already impacting our health. It’s really with us in every breath we take.

Megan Hall: Are there specific things we can do to make pollen seasons more manageable?

Fatima Husain: Well, of course, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions will affect all aspects of climate change.  

Harrison Katz: But more specifically, William says we can be more thoughtful about the types of trees and flowers we grow. 

William Anderegg: We can think about urban design in which species we want to plant in order to try to minimize pollen in places where a lot of people live, things like that.

Megan Hall: Is there anything people like me can do for allergy relief right now? 

Fatima Husain: Yes. If you know you’re affected by pollen allergies, you can talk to your doctor. You can also lookup data from your local pollen station or from the National Allergy Bureau and make plans to stay indoors during high-pollen days. 

Megan Hall: Got it. Thanks, Harrison and Fatima!

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.

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