Study: climate change is exacerbating the pollen season

The pollen season is getting longer, earlier and more intense due to climate change, according to a study published Monday in a journal of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists at several universities led by William Anderegg at Rutgers looked at pollen measurement data from 1990 to 2018 and found that the pollen season increased by 20 days during this period, while the amount of pollen in the air increased by 21%.

“We are seeing advances and a general lengthening of pollen seasons (+20 d) and increases in pollen concentrations (+ 21%) across North America, which are strongly coupled to the observed warming”, we read in the summary of the study. “Our results show that anthropogenic climate change has already exacerbated pollen seasons over the past three decades, with deleterious effects on respiratory health.”

“It’s a clear and clear example that climate change is here and it’s in every breath we take,” Anderegg told The Associated Press, which first reported the study.

Scientists around the world have warned that the environment must be limited to warming 2 degrees Celsius to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.

A study published earlier this year indicated that greenhouse gas emissions already in the atmosphere could push the Earth beyond this limit over the next several centuries.

The United States withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, which agrees to aim to limit warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius, under the old President TrumpDonald TrumpDOJ Calls for Resignation of Most Trump-Appointed U.S. Lawyers: Report Trump’s Lawyer Withdraws Request Not to Hold Impeachment Trial on Saturday Kinzinger in Calls to GOP Senators to Convict Trump in Impeachment Trial MORE and re-entered the multinational agreement last month.