2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
In North America, from 1990 to 2018, the total number of days per year when plant pollen flies in the air increased by 20, and its average annual amount increased by 20.9 percent. At the same time, the spring pollen season has become 8 days longer, and the amount of pollen formed during this time - by 21.5 percent. The article was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Climate change affects not only the state of the planet's ecosystems and economic growth, but also public health. Warming can expand the habitat and increase the growing season of plants, and therefore prolong the pollen season, during which allergy sufferers face respiratory diseases. Also, as the temperature rises, plants begin to emit more pollen, and its concentration in the air increases.
Scientists led by William R. L. Anderegg of the University of Utah at Salt Lake City have estimated how pollen seasons in North America changed against the backdrop of climate change from 1990 to 2018. They included in the study data from the National Bureau of Allergy on air pollen concentrations and climate indicators measured in 60 cities (including territories in Canada and Alaska).
The figures show how the annual integrated pollen count (A), the start date of the pollen season (B), the spring integrated pollen count from February to May (C) and the total duration of the pollen season in days (D) changed against the background of an increase in the average annual temperature air in North America. This climatic indicator proved to be a reliable predictor for pollen (p
It turned out that over the past 28 years, the annual amount of pollen in the air over cities increased by an average of 20.9 percent, and the seasonal - by 21.5 percent (integrated indicators were estimated, p <0, 0001). The most pronounced growth was observed in Texas and the Midwest of the United States - regions with a dry climate. The duration of the spring pollen season over these years increased by an average of eight days, and the duration of the full season (the total number of days per year when traps at stations capture pollen) by 20 days.
Previously, scientists pointed to the success of biological control of ragweed, whose pollen is allergic to millions of Europeans: the activity of the leaf beetle Ophraella communa, accidentally introduced to the continent in 2013, reduced the concentration of this pollen in the air by an average of 10 percent.
