Science Source
Recent warming by latitude associated with increased length of ragweed pollen season in central North America
- States that a fundamental aspect of climate change is the potential shifts in flowering phenology and pollen initiation associated with milder winters and warmer seasonal air temperature
- States that earlier floral anthesis has been suggested, in turn, to have a role in human disease by increasing time of exposure to pollen that causes allergic rhinitis and related asthma
- Reports that duration of the ragweed (Ambrosia spp.) pollen season has been increasing in recent decades as a function of latitude in North America
- Finds that latitudinal effects on increasing season length were associated primarily with a delay in first frost of the fall season and lengthening of the frost free period
- Overall, these data indicate a significant increase in the length of the ragweed pollen season by as much as 13–27 d at latitudes above ~44°N since 1995
- Concludes that this consistent with recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projections regarding enhanced warming as a function of latitude
- Concludes that if similar warming trends accompany long-term climate change, greater exposure times to seasonal allergens may occur with subsequent effects on public health
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