A Warming Planet is Producing More Allergens and More Allergic People

Not in the future, this is happening now. New research by a team from Italy including Dr. Renato Ariano, director of the allergy service at Bordighera Hospital in Italy shows that higher temperatures and longer growing seasons are lengthening the pollination period for some plants and trees. This increases the pollen load they produce and has caused a rise in the number of people who are developing allergies. Doctor Ariano and his team have accumulated 30 years of data about pollen counts and number of patients. Their research was presented in New Orleans at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.