Tag Archives: allergies

Health, News, Science

Grass is Everywhere Right Now

Thanks to Cliff Mass and his post on fireworks-induced air pollution, I’ve fallen down the air quality rabbit hole on the internet. I was curious anyway because yesterday in the park I started coughing so hard I had to stumble home, watery-eyed.

Bremerton, Puyallup, and Everett all made leaps into “Unhealthy” air quality the night of July 4, from the amount of particulate in the air. Those of you who are anti-boom-boom will be pleased to know that Cliff Mass is on your side:

There was a lot of concern about the Fukushima radiation a few months ago, but quite frankly the health and other ill-effects of the fireworks are far, far greater. Not only was the air quality highly degraded last night but several kids lost fingers, one teenager was killed, a number of homes were torched, and how many dogs/cats were left shaking in a corner?

But now that the explosives are packed away, we still have to contend with an insidious foe: grass. AirNOW shows ozone and particulate levels are fine, but the Northwest Asthma and Allergy Center shows grass pollen registering at High (“Most individuals with any sensitivity to these pollens will experience symptoms”). Trees and weeds, not so much. The National Allergy Bureau Pollen and Mold Report backs these findings up.

If your nose is running, expect it to keep up for another week, as the grass season lasts until mid-July.

 

Environment, Health, News

Reason for the Sneezin': A Tale of Allergy Nose and Carbon Footprint

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Provoked by the allergy forecast for today (medium-high) and Friday and Saturday (high), I did a little allergy season research. Despite growing up on a farm and working in actual hay fields, I didn’t used to get hay fever until a few years ago. I remember the exact moment when — with muggy eyes, streaming nose, and itchy throat — I realized this was what some people went through every year.

It’s true, I’ve gotten older, but things have also gotten worse. As MSNBC reports, allergy season is coming earlier and staying later, thanks to climate change. In some states, spring is arriving almost two weeks earlier than just twenty years ago.

But there’s a simpler explanation for rising allergies than even that. Scientists have long known that plants feed on carbon dioxide — now they are learning that pollen producers can binge on CO2. This March’s Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology contains a study showing that “ragweed grown in an atmosphere with double the current carbon dioxide levels produced 61 percent more pollen than normal.”

MSNBC also claims “the CO2 overload has also led to a kind of superpollen that’s more allergenic, so that just a teeny amount can get your nose running.” I haven’t found evidence of that, so I can’t tell you more. But, you know, the way things are going, sure.