WHYY NewsWorks Tonight Visits The Asthma Center

   May 10, 2018

   As published on WHYY.org and recorded on NewsWorks Tonight by Dave Heller

It’s Been An Unusally Bad Allergy Season. Here’s Why It May Be Getting Worse.

It’s been an unusually bad season for allergy sufferers. There is more pollen in the air than normal for this time of year, and unfortunately, it may not get much better anytime soon.

To put this season into perspective, NewsWorks Tonight host Dave Heller paid a visit to Dr. Donald Dvorin, an allergist at the Asthma Center in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. He’s been doing a daily count of how much pollen is in the air – and what kind.

Interview highlights

On why we’re seeing an onslaught of pollen this year:  

“We actually saw an overlap for the early pollinating trees and the late pollinating trees this year, and we believe it’s that March weather – that horrible snowfall that we had on multiple occasions. And that delayed the pollination of the trees by approximately 10 days.”

On how climate change is impacting pollen count:

“When I cam here in the mid ’80s to ’90s, we had some tremendous pollen counts, especially ragweed. The ragweed has actually dropped off somewhat, but the tree pollen continues to climb, especially with global warming. We really feel there’s a basis for it because we now see some trees in the fall and we see some grass coming in the fall, as well as the spring. And that’s something I didn’t see before about 10 years ago, and it’s increasing every year.”

On how long the pollen surge could last: 

“I expect by next middle of next week we may be through the main part of the tree pollen season, which is oak pollen. However, our pine pollen may last until June, and we’re right at the edge of the Pinelands in this location, so our pine pollen is going to surge any day now.”

Original article published on WHYY.org

Original recording published on WHYY.org

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