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Climate Change And Allergies | Earth Wise

March 23, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an addition to the many hardships that climate change is causing around the world is the fact that it is making allergy season worse.

Researchers have found that there is a strong link between planetary warming and pollen seasons. The combination of warming air and higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has caused North American pollen seasons since 1990 to start some 20 days earlier, on average, and to have 21% more pollen.

The most pronounced effects were seen in Texas, the Midwest, and the Southeast. The effects were less obvious in the northern United States, including New England and the Great Lakes states. The greatest pollen increases came from trees, as opposed to grasses and weeds.

Allergies do not just trigger sniffles and sneezes; they have serious effects on public health in the form of asthma and other respiratory conditions. Studies have shown that students do less well in school during peak pollen season. Of special concern at the moment is that high-pollen periods have been associated with greater susceptibility to respiratory viruses. The U.S. has nearly 25 million people with asthma and 19 million adults reported hay fever in the past 12 months. Research suggests that the early onset of pollen season correlates with a higher risk of hospitalization for asthma.

There are far fewer pollen monitoring stations than those measuring particle pollutants and air quality. As the climate warms, we need to pay more attention to pollen as an airborne pollutant.

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Achoo! Climate Change Lengthening Pollen Season in U.S., Study Shows

Photo, posted May 18, 2012, courtesy of Forest Wander via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Saved By The Trees

February 1, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The island of Kokota, part of the Zanzibar Archipelago off the coast of Tanzania, is tiny – only one square kilometer and home to just 500 people. For centuries, its residents subsisted by harvesting the islet’s natural resources, including its trees.

By the early 21st century, the deforestation had become unsustainable and the islanders faced a crisis. Fisheries were depleted, and rivers ran dry. The changing climate brought rising sea levels, more erratic rainfall, and coral bleaching in the surrounding waters. The situation looked hopeless.

But in recent years, the island has come back from the brink of ruin. Reforestation efforts began in 2008 on the larger island of Pemba and on Kokota itself, led by a Pemba local and a Canadian tree planter who formed the non-profit Community Forests International. Since then, nearly 2 million trees have been planted on the two islands. Enthusiastic volunteers on Kokota usually help plant trees during the rainy season, when water is plentiful.

Community Forests International, along with spearheading the tree planting effort, also built Kokota’s first school, and installed rainwater storage tanks for the community.

The conservation group is now devising ways for Kokota to make more money by diversifying its agriculture with crops that grow well in its climate including spices like cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. They are also helping locals to grow more and different vegetables in their gardens.

Small, poor communities are often the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as drought, powerful storms, and depleted fisheries. Tiny Kokota provides an example of an environmental comeback. Fighting climate change requires economic solutions along with environmental solutions. For this one tiny island, it appears to have been saved by the trees.

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This island was on the brink of disaster. Then, they planted thousands of trees.

Photo, posted July 18, 2015, courtesy of Marco Zanferrari via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Capital Region Community Solar

May 22, 2017 By EarthWise

Community solar is a cooperative enterprise in which customers can make use of the output of a large local array of solar panels when they are not able to install a solar power system on their own property. The customers of a community solar system can offset as little or as much of their electrical usage as they want by participating in a community solar program.