Warming climate brings worse allergies

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The impact that climate change could have on our weather has been a hot topic lately. But a recent study shows that the changing climate could affect more than just the thermometer.

The study, led by Leonard Bielory of Rutgers University , found that climate change could have a significant impact on those who suffer from allergies.

And sniffle-inducing allergens are not hard to come by in the air blanketing Central Texas.

“I get an itchy nose, sore throat,” Austin resident Allison Smoler said.

“My face just itches,” Amanda Young said as she strolled through Auditorium Shores. “It feels like something is in there crawling around and I just want to scratch it so bad. And my eyes get watery and itchy; it’s just miserable.”

Dr. John Dice of Allergy and Asthma Consultants, LLP treats allergy patients who suffer from these symptoms every day.

“The first thing patients will always say is ‘I am miserable,'” Dice said.

According to the study, the airborne allergens these patients are suffering from could increase in quantity and intensity.

Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels has caused global temperatures to warm. Warm temperatures and carbon dioxide are two of the ingredients plants thrive on.

“All of those will feed together to make plants much more productive,” Dice said. We’ll have more plants and they’ll produce more pollen—and one of the big questions is will that pollen be more potent as well.”

According to doctors, even those exhibiting only occasional allergy symptoms will be affected by the connection between climate change and allergens.

“The biggest impact will be on people who currently have very mild to moderate allergies, as there’s more pollen in the air and stronger pollen in the air,” Dice said. “I think you’ll see those people who used to just get by on their own now will be much more miserable.”

Some allergy sufferers hope that advances in medicine will make living with allergies a little easier.

“Hopefully the drugs will change too and get stronger and help to ease some of that,” Young said.