The heat and nice weather are already here. And with them are allergies. The arrival of spring brings with it allergy season for millions of people around the world, as blooming trees and plants release allergy-causing pollen. Now, this phenomenon is about to get worse. Climate change and global warming are prolonging these seasons and with it the health risks.

Some pollen-producing plants will have longer and more intense growing seasons.

Study. By 2100, the amount of pollen produced during flowering could increase by 40%, according to new research published in the journal Nature. Even as drought and heat damage forests and grasslands, some grasses, weeds, and trees that produce allergy-causing pollen thrive, grow, and produce more leaves at increased temperatures and higher carbon dioxide concentrations.

Evolution. A previous study examining historical trends estimated that the US pollen season came on average 20 days earlier and lasted eight days longer, releasing 20% ​​more pollen into the air than 30 years ago. The new research extends this picture to the end of the century, citing a 40% increase in pollen produced in a season that began 40 days earlier and extended by another 19 days. The most severe scenario, in which carbon dioxide concentrations reach 2.5 times their current level, results in a more intense and longer pollen season, doubling the historical trends of the past 30 years.

start earlier. The new study matches what allergist John James saw firsthand. For James, allergy season was mostly limited to March and April. Since then, this pattern has changed. “Patients started coming in sooner and asking, ‘Why are my symptoms taking so long? I can’t take a break,'” she said.

Many trees and other plants use temperature as a signal to wait for warmer spring days when it’s time to bloom. In the fall, many weeds produce pollen until the winter cold comes. Small grains fill the air, some carried by insects and others by the breeze to pollinate nearby flowers. For people, that would mean allergy attacks, asthma, and hospital visits.

Threatening. Increasingly punishing pollen seasons pose a threat to global public health, according to other research. Students with allergies perform worse than their peers in school; Adult productivity at work drops when hay fever occurs. Meanwhile, days with higher pollen concentrations were associated with an increase in asthma cases, with associated costs for both individuals and hospitals.

productivity. The increasing length and intensity of the allergy season is another source of loss of individual health and productivity caused by climate change. While for many people this discomfort is a bearable nuisance, there are also studies showing that people with allergies have poor school performance, which in turn affects their future economic capacity. As long as we change this trend (if we have a place to) will have to pull modern therapieshumidifiers, good ventilation or masks, among others.

We will all be victims. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2050 half of the planet’s population will suffer from at least one allergic disorder. Currently, allergies affect between 10% and 30% of adults and 40% of children. This increase is due not only to increased pollen concentrations, but also to the ways in which chemicals in pollutants interact with pollen. What will we do when we are 50% of the population? Staying at home doesn’t seem like a viable option.