LISTEN: Warming temperatures are giving plants more time to grow and produce allergy-inducing pollen, Climate Central meteorologist Lauren Casey says. GPB's Orlando Montoya reports.

Sneezing

Growing research shows that warming temperatures are lengthening and intensifying Georgia's allergy season.

Credit: Pixabay

Metro Atlanta recorded its highest pollen count of the year so far last week, making lots of people start to sneeze and sniffle — and it wasn't even March.

New data shows just how much earlier Georgia's pollen season is starting — and climate change may be to blame. GPB's Orlando Montoya spoke to Climate Central meteorologist Lauren Casey about it.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Orlando Montoya: This is All Things Considered on GPB. I'm Orlando Montoya. Last week, like many people in Georgia, I woke up one morning to terrible allergies stuffy nose, sneezing, watery eyes, the whole nine yards. And it wasn't even March. My next guest says a growing body of research shows that warming temperatures, linked to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, are lengthening and intensifying our allergy season. Lauren Casey is a meteorologist with Climate Central. She joins me now. Welcome to GPB.

Lauren Casey: Thank you for having me.

Orlando Montoya: First of all, let's talk about how allergies relate to climate. It's the pollen and mold, obviously. But how do warming temperatures unleash the pollen and the mold earlier and more intensely?

Lauren Casey: Great question. Yeah. So when those temperatures start to warm up during the season, when the spring season arrives, the plants perk up and they know, "OK, it's time to go. It's time to start producing pollen." And we're seeing that start a lot earlier, dipping into what we would consider the winter season. So that is lengthening that allergy season to be even longer.

Orlando Montoya: How much longer? 20 days? 10 days?

Lauren Casey: For the Atlanta area 36 days, an increase in 36 days in your freeze-free season since 1970. So over a month.

Chart showing growth of allergy season in Atlanta since 1970

Credit: Climate Central

Orlando Montoya: And outside of Atlanta?

Lauren Casey: Sure. So for Albany, Ga., there's an increase of 28 days in the freeze-free season, 15 days in Columbus, Ga., 12 in Savannah and Macon, Ga., actually saw a decrease.

Orlando Montoya: I tend to think of rain as washing the pollen out of the atmosphere. Is there any correlation between rain, wind, and other weather-related factors to allergies?

Lauren Casey: That's a great question. A little complex. You know, typically we think rain comes in and washes away some of that pollen, gives us some relief — which is true to a point, except when we have heavy or intense rainfall. What that can do, when it encounters those pieces of pollen, is break them down even smaller into sub-pollen particles that are more easily transferred by wind, and also more easily able to enter your lungs and your airways and cause that irritation.

Orlando Montoya Your report says that human-caused warming accounted for about half of the shift toward earlier pollen seasons and about 8% of the rise in concentrations during the seasons. How do you measure that human factor?

Infographic showing how climate change affects seasonal allergies

Credit: Climate Central

Lauren Casey: Yeah, we measure that through the use of attribution science. So what that entails is we take these climate models — very sophisticated based on math — and we essentially can look at the world without climate change and then compare it to the present world that we live in and analyze the difference.

Orlando Montoya: Seasonal allergies are unavoidable for most people. They've always been a part of my life. But apart from medication, what are some steps that people can take to mitigate the suffering?

Lauren Casey: I think awareness is an important key to this, knowing that the allergy season is lengthening and having that awareness so you can best treat yourself. So you can make sure, "Oh, I already went to the store and have that medicine on hand" when the sniffling and the sneezing starts. Or same case for your family members, for your children. About 1 in 5 children across the U.S. suffer from seasonal allergies, so making those preparations, I think, is important.

Orlando Montoya: Well, we'll keep an eye on the forecast — the allergy forecast and the weather forecast. I appreciate your time today. Lauren Casey, meteorologist with Climate Central. Thanks for joining me.

Lauren Casey: Thanks so much for having me.

Tags: pollen  climate change  Georgia  Allergies  health  health  Health