dailyloe.com – Climate breakdown has extended the pollen season in the UK and mainland Europe by between one and two weeks since the 1990s, a study has found. The research adds itchy eyes and runny noses to the harm wrought by fossil fuel pollution. The finding may be less dramatic than floods and wildfires typically associated with a warming planet. But researchers say it represents a huge increase in the combined suffering of tens of millions of people.
Warm weather and high concentrations of carbon dioxide let plants pump out more pollen. This triggers allergic reactions in people with hay fever. Symptoms range from mildly irritating to life-threatening. The latest review of climate-health impacts in Europe was published in the Lancet medical journal.
The study found the pollen seasons for birch, alder and olive trees began between one and two weeks earlier in 2015-24 than in 1991-2000. Since the last version of the report in 2024, the seasonal severity of birch and alder has increased by 15-20% in the south of the UK. The same increase was observed in northern France, Germany, and eastern Europe.
Joacim Rocklöv, an environmental epidemiologist at the University of Heidelberg and co-director of the report, commented on the findings. “It’s one of those everyday indicators that show something is getting a little worse for a lot of people,” he said. “The suffering of people from these changes can be very large.”
Separate research has highlighted the danger of invasive species such as common ragweed. Its pollen is projected to become a common health problem across Europe. The plant is expanding into areas in which it is currently rare. Katharina Bastl, a pollen researcher at the Medical University of Vienna who was not involved in the research, also spoke on the issue.
“Pollen allergies are a health risk of climate change,” Bastl said. “Global warming has already had an impact on pollination, [though] it is not that easy to assess and varies regionally.” The Lancet Countdown report was compiled by 65 researchers from 46 academic and UN institutions. It tracks trends in climate change and health with 43 indicators.
The latest iteration uses methodologies from peer-reviewed research. It updates established indicators with the latest data. The researchers found heat deaths had increased over the study period by an average of 52 deaths per million people. Daily extreme heat warnings had also risen.
