Your First Season of Allergies? Global Warming Could Be to Blame

photo: J. Novak

If you've never before been plagued with allergies, it ain't pretty. Sniffling, sneezing, congestion--symptoms can vary dramatically but more and more people are getting them. According to an article in Time Magazine, climate change is to blame.

Climate change is beginning to rear its ugly head once more, this time by making more and more people feel the wrath of allergies. As carbon builds in the atmosphere, the initial effect is an increase in the growth of plants. But don't get too excited about flourishing vegetation because it's paired with unrelenting rain. This leads to vast increases in the growth of ragweed pollen, which triggers a lot of pain for allergy sufferers. Weeds produce more of the pollen per plant which mean more and more people are effected by it.

Additionally the growth of urban areas is also to blame. Urban areas create a "baking effect" which allows ragweed pollen to thrive. If you live in a concrete jungle weeds and pollen thrive, worsening the problem.

Mold and Climate Change
According to Life Science, mold is another culprit. With more intense rainstorms come more moisture in the air and mold becomes common in homes.

"With an increase in moisture as we might expect as a result of climate change, we can expect more fungal growth on damp interior surfaces," Christine Rogers, a research associate in Environmental Science and Engineering at Harvard University told LiveScience. "Exposure to fungi is very clearly associated with both allergy and asthma symptoms."

More: Time and Life Science

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