As average temperatures rise, allergies will continue to rise, but only up to a certain point, according to Rutgers' Bielory. Eventually, pollen counts will hit a plateau and may even decline. "It cannot continue on a linear scale," he said. "If heat goes up to a certain temperature, plants will die. It will hit a breaking point."

USDA's Ziska said increased carbon dioxide levels will make allergenic weeds more difficult to control with herbicides. The solution is instead to make the environment more hospitable to native plant species and less prone to weed infestations, according to Steven Apfelbaum, a senior ecologist with Applied Ecological Services Inc., an environmental restoration firm. "Plan A would be to restore the land and the ecosystems so they are healthy and they can tolerate and are not as vulnerable to the unpredictable weather that has been tossed at them," he said.

For people with allergies, the best way to prevent reactions is to stay informed. Bielory is developing iPollenCount, an iPhone app to track pollen. Using this information, people can schedule their outdoor activities to minimize their exposure on high-risk days. More broadly, Bielory said people need to take steps to minimize their emissions, not only to curb short-term pollution, but to slow the long-term climate changes that are driving environmental health risks.

Still, there is no rapid way to reverse these allergy trends, and the risks will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. "My perspective is that we can mitigate all we want but have to learn to adapt and, more so, prepare," said Bielory.

Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500

5 Comments

1. 1. geojellyroll 03:16 PM 4/30/12

   "....while stinging insects like yellow jackets and hornets are findings new homes farther north.'
   
   ?????????? I live in Canada. We've alsways had yellow jackets and a variety of other stinging members of this insect family.
   
   This is another empty article tossed out to fuel the global warming groupies. File it between 'proof' # 1257 of wetter summers and # 1259 'proof' of drier summers

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2. 2. Shoshin 10:32 PM 4/30/12

   This article gats a WOW. As in Waste of Words.
   
   More idiotic Alarmist garbage.

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3. 3. Dredd 08:58 AM 5/1/12

   A Navy Admiral indicates that the Navy has now been subverted the by global warming hoax, so they will probably try to protect their sailors from the perceived allergy dangers.
   
   Waste of taxpayer dollars?
   
   http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2012/05/has-navy-fallen-for-greatest-hoax.html

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4. 4. bucketofsquid 10:34 AM 5/3/12

   Despite the 3 previous posts, it is interesting that pollen counts are breaking records in many areas and have for the last few years. My allergies kicked in a month early this year. I'm growing plants that were not rated for this growing zone 15 years ago. The climate is changing because that is what climates do.
   
   I wonder what Apfelbaum suggests for those of us that live where ragweed is a native plant. When the pollen.com rating gets to about 11 I usually wear a commercial grade HEPA filter mask. It costs a fortune and looks silly but I can breathe.

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5. 5. mounthell 08:51 PM 5/4/12

   In addition to the rising levels of plant products at ever higher latitudes and altitudes, we seem to be subjected to increasing hot-air effluents from conspiracy theorists. They valiantly spread the alarm that the government is wrongly telling us that the sky is falling when, in fact, they know it to be rising (as heated air is rumored to do).
   
   It is surprising that useful data points reflecting this moist, warm effluent, although sparse, seem to occur in temporal clusters, like 1 - 2 - 3 above. That, in turn, suggests that this frightening trend might be a new, wholly unanticipated anthropogenic effect of human-exacerbated climate change. If so, the effluent may not be adding to earth's heat content as one might expect. In fact, what might be occurring is that the effluent sources are actually absorbing energy and, thereby, reducing the climate's rate of increase.
   
   Given their selflessly ameliorating effect on the hotting climate, it would appear that we all owe conspiracy theorists our gratitude. Indeed, we could do better! We must all encourage the ignored, paranoid personalities on societies' margins to consider taking up a career in climate warming and Shakespeare denial, along with the birthers, millennials and the odd flying-saucer authority. One can imagine television programs, even series, that celebrate such gurus' sensitive and complete understanding of the universe.
   
   Yet, what if the deniers are a product of world governments' scheme to actually _lower_ earth's temperature and drive up the cost of fuels needed to heat our homes and effluent sources so the oil companies can buy more politicians to keep the whole sordid mess running? Oh my, this looks like a new conspiracy!
   
   Is it getting warm in here or is it just me?

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