Climate change could affect grass pollen seasons, and your hayfever

The sneezin' season in the northern hemisphere might be prolonged due to climate change, and scientists want to know what that could mean for asthma and hayfever sufferers in Australia.

Both the length of the hayfever season and the amount of pollen north of the equator is on the rise, according to a study published in the journal Lancet Planet Health earlier this year.

And it's higher temperatures that are responsible for these changes. While such data is lacking across the southern hemisphere, it's possible the same trend is occurring in Australia, according to Paul Beggs, study author and environmental health scientist from Macquarie University.

"We have temperature and CO2 increases occurring here, so one would assume that this is happening in places like Australia," Dr Beggs said.  "This is really important for a place like Australia where the prevalence of allergic respiratory disease — things like asthma or hay fever — is so high."

The research from the northern hemisphere highlights another link between ongoing global warming and public health that could worsen as temperatures continue to rise, and scientists say Australia is lagging behind.

Potential pollen changes down under...Click here to read full article.

Source: www.abc.net.au/news/health/2019-10-01/climate-change-pollen-hay-fever/11545464, viewed 1 Oct 2019