--- title: Why Allergy Seasons Are Getting Worse description: Allergy seasons are getting worse and longer due to climate change, which may worsen symptoms and lead to other complications. canonical: https://time.com/6278183/allergy-season-worse-health-impact/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-05-09T14:35:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:23:20.357Z article:section: Health og:title: Why Allergy Seasons Are Getting Worse og:description: And what that means for your health og:url: https://time.com/6278183/allergy-season-worse-health-impact/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteedbd47a0aea3826/698a3ca9d075339751e6dfe3/spring-allergy-season.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3416 og:image:height: 1922 og:image:alt: Pollen allergy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Allergy Seasons Are Getting Worse twitter:description: And what that means for your health twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteedbd47a0aea3826/698a3ca9d075339751e6dfe3/spring-allergy-season.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Allergy Seasons Are Getting Worse > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=54ae5566-94b4-475b-91cf-901f5968bd34&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Allergy Season Is Getting Worse And Here’s Why [Watch (HLS stream): Allergy Season Is Getting Worse And Here’s Why](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/p97Ass3E.m3u8) (4:36)  _Published 2023-04-10. Warming temperatures, shifting seasonal patterns, and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is affecting pollen production. For the millions of people who suffer from seasonal allergies, this means sneezing, scratchy eyes, and runny noses for longer periods of time._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. May 9, 2023 2:35 PM UTC Warming temperatures, shifting seasonal patterns, and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is affecting pollen production. For the millions of people who suffer from seasonal allergies, this means sneezing, scratchy eyes, and runny noses for longer periods of time.  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. May 9, 2023 2:35 PM UTC If you’ve been [itchy, congested, and sneezy for months](https://time.com/6223485/seasonal-allergies-treatments/), you’re not alone. This year’s spring allergy season started early, [broke pollen-count records](https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2012/03/20/pollen-record-levels-georgia/15872171007/) in some parts of the country, and [is still going strong](https://www.pollen.com/map) in many areas. Unfortunately, this year is unlikely to be a fluke. While pollen counts vary from year to year, recent trends suggest allergy seasons are, in general, getting longer and worse, says Dr. Kristine Vanijcharoenkarn, an assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine who specializes in allergies and immunology. Patients started filling her office early this year, around the beginning of March, and she says “the trend will most likely continue.” Here’s why—and how to prepare yourself for future intense allergy seasons. ## Why allergy seasons are getting worse Climate change plays a big part. “We’ve known for a long time that higher \[carbon dioxide levels\] and turning up the temperature on plants in very controlled environments makes them produce a lot more pollen and start that pollen season earlier,” says William Anderegg, an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Utah who researches [how climate change affects nature](https://time.com/4070683/nature-climate-change/). Now, that’s happening at scale. [Anderegg’s research suggests](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2013284118) that, from 1990 to 2018, North American pollen concentrations rose by about 20%, with allergy season starting about 20 days earlier and dragging on more than an extra week by the end of that time period. The effect is happening across the U.S., but parts of the Southeast and Midwest are particular hot spots, he says. “Climate change isn’t something in distant decades or other countries; it’s with us here, in every breath we take in the spring,” Anderegg says. ## How bad allergy seasons affect your health Bad allergy seasons lead to bad allergy symptoms: itchy eyes, congestion, sneezing, fatigue, rashes, and so on. In addition to being unpleasant, these symptoms can make it hard to sleep and may negatively affect work or school performance, says Dr. Michele Pham, an allergist and immunologist at UCSF Health. If allergies linger and remain untreated, they can also contribute to complications, says Dr. Caroline Sokol, a physician in Massachusetts General Hospital’s Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit. “The longer you have uncontrolled inflammation, the more likely you are to have side effects,” Sokol says. For example, when you’re chronically congested, fluid and mucus can’t drain properly. If a virus or bacteria gets into that fluid, it can lead to a sinus or ear infection. (With viruses like COVID-19, influenza, RSV, [and others spreading widely](https://time.com/6264539/respiratory-virus-not-covid-spring-2023/) this year, doctors have seen an uptick in ear infections among both kids and adults, [Well + Good reports](https://www.wellandgood.com/adult-ear-infections/).) Persistent inflammation in the sinuses and nose can also increase your risk of contracting other respiratory infections, Pham says. Allergens like dust and pollen can also exacerbate asthma symptoms such as wheezing and coughing, Pham says. While most people manage their asthma without serious issues, [asthma attacks can be severe](https://time.com/6189983/managing-severe-asthma-advances/), or even fatal in rare cases, if not treated properly. Allergy-triggered asthma attacks may require [more intensive treatments](https://time.com/6253592/severe-asthma-patients-anxiety-symptoms/), such as steroidal medications or hospitalization, Vanijcharoenkarn says. ## How to handle worsening allergy seasons Get ready to medicate. “People who maybe were able to get away with not treating anything or \[taking\] one week of an antihistamine are now going to be stuck with a few weeks or months of medications,” Sokol predicts. Vanijcharoenkarn suggests planning ahead now for the fall allergy season—and for next year’s spring season—as she’s seen an increase in patients who need prolonged treatments to keep up with the worsening pollen seasons. If you’re prone to fall allergies, start taking medications in August to ward off symptoms before they start, she recommends. (For the spring, start proactively treating around Valentine’s Day.) “If you start it once you’re symptomatic, we’re a little behind the eight ball,” she says. “Prevention is always easier.” If you’re already symptomatic, you may need something stronger than an oral drug. Pham says you’re likely to see better results with targeted therapies applied directly to the area that’s bothering you, such as a nasal spray, eye drops, inhaler, or skin cream, depending on your specific symptoms. If your symptoms are really bothersome, you may want to see a doctor, who can prescribe stronger medication or assess whether something else is going on. Some people with allergy-like symptoms actually have [nonallergic rhinitis](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/nonallergic-rhinitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351229), a condition that can be triggered by changes in weather or irritants in the air, Sokol says. If you have allergies that aren’t responding to standard medications, you may be a candidate for immunotherapy, or allergy shots. Patients undergoing this treatment receive numerous injections that contain small amounts of their allergen, and the goal is for them to become desensitized to it over time. “Immunotherapy is the only thing that changes your immune response to allergens,” Pham says. She’s already seen an uptick in the number of patients starting new immunotherapy regimens—a trend that she says is likely to continue as allergy seasons continue to worsen. ## Transcript [00:00] Seasonal allergies are getting worse and climate change, [00:03] might be to blame a recent study found that North American [00:07] pollen seasons are becoming longer by 20 days on average [00:09] and increasing in severity, by 21% [00:12] as Things become warmer and the plants become more energetic. [00:17] They're going to produce more pollen and they're going to do sit [00:20] over a longer period of time and we see that already happening. [00:24] This isn't some model, this is not going to happen, [00:27] 10 years that's already happening. [00:34] Although Palin can be a nuisance, it serves an actual purpose, [00:37] male Plants, release to find powdery substance for reproduction [00:41] and the winter animals. [00:42] Carry the female plants Polynesian typically happens in the spring [00:47] when it's warm enough for plants Thrive with as weather, [00:50] pattern shift, and we experience warmer temperatures [00:52] earlier, and for longer plants, have more time to release [00:55] pollen is essentially your last freezing temperature [01:01] in the springtime and the time between the first freezing [01:04] temperature in the fall, when those plants can grow and Thrive [01:08] the analysis, conducted by climate Central, you looked at 203 [01:12] US cities and their fries fries seasoned, [01:15] or they're growing season and on average across the US, [01:18] that lengthened by about 15 days or more than two weeks. [01:22] In some parts of the United States. [01:24] This growing season has increased by more than 60 days and that's [01:28] not the only problem for allergy sufferers greenhouse [01:35] gas is also the source of carbon for plants to grow mint, [01:38] plants room or sounds good. [01:40] But what we find is that there's a whole host of plants that [01:44] produce pollen that are also going or you're being directly [01:48] stimulated by the increase in CO2 with the rising carbon dioxide. [01:52] What we're seeing is a change in the structure of the pollen [01:57] itself. When you breathe in Palo, in your body, [02:01] recognizes proteins on the surface of the pollen that are foreign [02:04] your body's immune system response, these two data sets indicate [02:09] that CO2 in addition to changing the flowering and causing [02:14] the plants to grow, more may also be qualitatively [02:18] affecting Impala. It may be putting more of those proteins [02:22] on the surface of the Calling that your immune system reacts [02:25] to sign to see if the Earth continues to warm seasonal allergies [02:29] would likely only get worse this spells. [02:32] Bad news for 26% [02:33] of American adults and 19% [02:35] of children suffering from seasonal. [02:37] Allergies are a great option to treat. [02:46] So something that I often recommend starting with is an antihistamine, [02:51] and then if that's not working, there are nasal sprays as well, [02:55] but you're very safe and effective. [02:56] Those are all great option to start with and it's even better [03:00] because they're available over the counter, so you can start [03:03] them on your own, you know, and see how they work for you allergies. [03:07] There are great option. [03:09] If medications are not working for you we would have to test [03:13] you first to see exactly what your allergic to it. [03:15] Once the testing is done and we know specifically what you're [03:18] allergic to. We actually inject you with very small [03:22] Amounts of what your allergic to the shots are retraining your [03:26] immune system to not react as much to the allergens [03:30] that you were reacting to before mccoppin alongside efforts [03:36] to better understand Rising pollen. [03:38] Counts stations. Right now, the monitor Paulette part of that [03:43] is because it's still old school. [03:45] I have to learn how to recognize on. [03:48] I have to sit there hour after hour after hour and a microscope. [03:52] Identifying the pollen literally counting the fallen on a slide. [03:56] We need to, we need to put something in there. [04:00] I will do it automatically so that we can begin to put pound [04:04] stations. Now in high-density, urban areas to, [04:08] determine not just the amounts of pollen, [04:10] count those pollen, interacting with other types of urban air [04:14] pollution, you're so much more about this, [04:16] that we don't understand the long-term, the answer, [04:20] you're going to get his. [04:21] We need to stop. [04:21] Adding see you. [04:22] To the atmosphere. [04:23] We need to stop what's happening with respect to climate [04:26] change. 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