The pollen season lasts longer and starts earlier than ever before.These are the bad ones
According to some scientists, pollen seasonhas increased by as much as 20 days over the past 30 years. At least in the USA and Canada. But one important element in research on the effects of climate on allergy season is often overlooked. The fact is that scientists often do not take into account its transfer.
In a new study, a team of scientists examinedpollen transport in Bavaria, Germany to better understand how the pollen season has changed over time. "Pollen transport has important implications for the length, timing and severity of the allergy season," said Dr. Ye Yuan, study co-author.
Scientists used six monitoring stationspollen in southeast Germany. scattered across the region for data analysis. Their results are published in the journal Frontiers in Allergy. The researchers found that some pollen species, such as hazel and alder pollen, outpace the season by two days each year for 30 years from 1987 to 2017. Other species, such as birch and ash, started their flowering season 0.5 days earlier during the same period. By the way, they belong to the late flowering species, however, they were also affected by changes.
Windborne Pollen Trap By A. Menzel and Y. Yuan, Technical University of Munich
The pollen can travel hundreds of kilometers, andas weather conditions change and species distribution changes, humans are exposed to “new” pollen species. We are talking about pollen that the human immune system is not used to encountering every year.
Although it is sometimes difficult to distinguish local pollenfrom bearable, the researchers focused on the preseason carryover. So, for example, if birch pollen was present at the monitoring station, but local birches did not bloom for at least 10 days, this pollen was considered to be carried from afar.
Scientists were surprised that the transport of pollen inthe preseason is quite common. The study authors emphasized that long-distance transport of light allergens can seriously affect the health of local populations.
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