Climate Change is Supercharging Pollen and Making Allergies Worse
By Mira I Buerk
News Article: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250410-how-climate-driven-thunderstorms-supercharge-pollen-allergies
Peer-Reviewed Article https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278224000531
Background:
Though allergies and allergic reactions have “been around” for forever, they weren’t studied because they simply weren't relevant. However, around 150 years ago as a result of changes in lifestyle like better water quality and hygiene, this began to change, causing the population to become sensitive to otherwise irrelevant foreign proteins [3]. Allergies are the result of the immune system reacting to foreign substances entering or contacting the body. The immune system creates IgE (immunoglobulin E) antibodies to attack these invaders, causing a cascade of reactions. One of these reactions is the release of mast cell chemicals, like histamines, into the body which cause allergic reactions [2]. Some of the most common allergens include pollen released by plants, insect bites, and ragweed, all of which come from the environment. The symptoms of coming into contact with an allergen can range from itchy eyes and mild discomfort to life threatening anaphylaxis.
Peer Reviewed Article:
Climate change and pollution are making allergies and asthma significantly worse around the world. As greenhouse gases like CO2, CH4, nitrogen oxides, and SO2 increase, they trap more heat, leading to higher temperatures and poorer air quality. These changes stimulate greater pollen production, extending pollen seasons and increasing overall allergen exposure. Elevated levels of CO2, NO2, and O3 promote oxidation of allergenic proteins, which modifies them, increasing their immunogenicity and making them more likely to trigger hypersensitivity responses(allergic reaction). Additionally, global warming contributes to more frequent wildfires and dust storms, which release large quantities of fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and reactive aldehydes into the atmosphere. Fine particles such as PM2.5 penetrate deeply into the respiratory tract, generating oxidative stress and inflammation at the cellular level. PM2.5 from wildfire smoke is up to ten times more harmful to children’s respiratory health than PM2.5 from vehicular emissions.
Factors increasing allergies and asthma and those increasing immune tolerance.
Urbanization and reduced biodiversity exposure further influence immune system development, contributing to higher allergy susceptibility. Indoor air pollutants, such as VOCs from consumer products, emissions from gas stoves, and biological allergens like molds and dust mites, exert additional chemical and inflammatory stress on the respiratory system. Epidemiological data suggest that exposure to gas stove emissions accounts for approximately thirteen percent of childhood asthma cases in the United States. Thunderstorm asthma, another climate-linked phenomenon, occurs when increased atmospheric moisture ruptures pollen grains, releasing respirable allergenic fragments that can provoke acute asthma exacerbations. Collectively, the interaction between climate-driven chemical transformations, pollutant exposure, and immune sensitization mechanisms suggests that by 2050, nearly half of the global population may experience allergic or asthmatic disease. Mitigation efforts targeting greenhouse gas reduction, decreased fossil fuel dependency, and improvements in indoor air filtration and environmental biodiversity are essential to counteracting these escalating health impacts.
News Article:
The BBC news article began with a captivating story about the 2016 “thunderstorm asthma” tragedy in Melbourne, explaining how climate change is intensifying allergies through underlying changes in environmental chemistry. Rising CO2 concentrations stimulate photosynthesis and increase pollen production, while also altering the biochemical makeup of pollen grains. Elevated CO₂ levels enhance the synthesis of allergenic proteins and lipids in pollen, making them more reactive in the human body. At the same time, higher temperatures and sunlight accelerate atmospheric chemical reactions that form tropospheric ozone and other oxidants, which interact with pollen surfaces and increase their allergenicity. During thunderstorms, electrical activity and humidity cause pollen grains to rupture, releasing microscopic allergenic particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs. Wildfires add to this by releasing nitrogen oxides, VOCs, and particulate matter that react in the atmosphere to form secondary pollutants, worsening respiratory irritation.
Together, these environmental and chemical processes demonstrate how human-driven changes in atmospheric chemistry are intensifying allergy severity and expanding the global burden of respiratory diseases.
Analysis:
The peer reviewed article was supposed to focus on climate change’s effect on allergies, but a significant amount only focused on the effects on climate change, whether or not they related to allergies/allergens. All of the adaptations and mitigation strategies to help with this issue only focused on the mitigation of climate change, nothing specific to allergens. They acknowledged this at the end of the article, stating that there is a large gap in their understanding of vital solutions for inclusive action (both adaptation and mitigation) to lower allergic diseases. The other weakness from this article was their lack of information on socio-economically disadvantaged groups and how allergens disproportionately affect them. Though it was mentioned, there was only one sentence discussing it and there was no data from their sources that focused on just how disproportionately they are affected.
The news article by BBC does an excellent job translating complex environmental chemistry into language that a general audience can understand. The article clearly connects rising CO₂ levels, warmer temperatures, and air pollution to changes in pollen production and allergen potency. It also includes compelling examples, such as thunderstorm asthma events, that show how atmospheric reactions and weather patterns interact to worsen allergies.
However, it loses a few points because it only touches lightly on the specific chemical processes. For example, it mentions ozone and CO₂ but does not explore their detailed molecular roles in pollen biochemistry or pollutant formation. The focus is more biological and meteorological than deeply chemical. Still, as a piece of science communication for the public, it effectively links climate-driven chemistry to real-world health effects.
Therefore, I would rate the news article an 8/10 for how well it discussed the topic.
Citations:
[1] Agache, I., Akdis, C., Akdis, M., Al-Hemoud, A., Annesi-Maesano, I., Balmes, J., Cecchi, L., Damialis, A., Haahtela, T., Haber, A. L., Hart, J. E., Jutel, M., Mitamura, Y., Mmbaga, B. T., Oh, J.-W., Ostadtaghizadeh, A., Pawaknar, R., Johnson, M., Renz, H., … Nadeau, K. C. (2024, November). Climate Change and Allergic Diseases: A Scoping Review. Science Direct. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278224000531
[2] Allergies explained. (n.d.). Better Health Channel. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/allergies
[3] Platts, T. A. (2016, July 1). The Allergy Epidemics: 1870–2010 - PMC. PubMed Central. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4617537/
[4] Ruggeri, A. (2025, April 12). Climate change is supercharging pollen and making allergies worse. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250410-how-climate-driven-thunderstorms-supercharge-pollen-allergies
Great Job, I agree with you rating of the news article. A lot of important chemistry was omitted and instead a large portion of the news article focused on one story of a pollen spreading thunderstorm. While most of the peer reviewed article covered solely climate change like you mentioned, the part that did dive into the relationship between climate change, and changing atmospheric composition and pollen production was very informative. I never considered that the changing atmosphere promotes reactions between allergens, pollen in this case, and atmospheric gases such as NO2 making the allergens even more potent and dangerous. I found this very interesting and wonder how continued climate change will effect these allergens. In the peer reviewed article it mentions that pollen production was increased by warmer temperatures and increasing CO2 concentrations but I couldn't find the explanation for the increased pollen season and I was wondering if you knew what it was? Also, In a previous presentation it was stated that climate change is harming agriculture around the world, but in this case climate change is actually promoting the growth of pollen releasing plants. I find it very interesting that the conditions that harm the health of key agricultural plants would benefit the health of these pollen producing plant.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reply, Seth! Higher CO2 concentrations increase pollen production by "boosting" plant growth. The increased CO2 concentration provides more "fuel" for photosynthesis, altering the length and timing of growing seasons. Warmer temperatures extend the growing season and create conditions that promote the release of more potent pollen. It is truly fascinating (and terrifying) how climate change is able to affect our environment in so many different ways.
DeleteWhat an interesting topic, Mira! I did not know about the correlation between the increased greenhouse gases and pollen production, and it makes me think about the other biological ramifications greenhouse gases pose. I was curious about the methodology of the study. How were they able to determine that the greenhouse gases were causing people to get more allergic diseases? I think the news article starting with the story on the 2016 Thunderstorm Asthma tragedy is indeed a captivating way to draw the attention of the public to highlight the relationship between weather, atmospheric reactions, and allergic reactions. You mention the peer-reviewed article focused on climate change mitigation strategies instead of allergen-specific solutions. What do you think these solutions could be? Would the climate change mitigation strategies not have the same result in the end for mitigating the increased pollen production?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the response, Talia! My guess is that they were looking at the upward trend of allergens and pollen counts and when looking for the cause, they turned towards greenhouse gasses and tropospheric pollutants because they have been linked to so many health issues.
DeleteThere are temporary, short term solutions for those affected by increased allergens such as removing high allergen weeds, only having insect-pollinated plants in your garden, and only doing yard work after rain. The only long term solutions, however, are all related to mitigating climate change as a whole.
Hi Mira! Great analysis of the article and peer-reviewed study. This topic was particularly interesting to me, as someone with lots of seasonal allergies. I found it particularly shocking when you described the relationship between greenhouse gases and pollen. This is something new I learned. I agree with your analysis of the news article as I think it does a good job explaining this scientific phenomena to the general public for a good understanding. Also some of the things listed (like gas stove emissions) I would not have thought of as a respiratory issue. In terms of mitigating these health effects, do you think simply reducing greenhouse gas and other emissions would be enough? Or, do you think that a reduction in emissions coupled with other actions (like state or national law, or individual efforts) will also need to be accounted for?
ReplyDeleteHi Cody, thanks for your response! I too have seasonal allergies and this was all news to me. Unfortunately, I agree with the article in that there isn't much to do other than reduce GHGs to make a worldwide difference. I have done a lot of digging for potential plants that could remove/mitigate allergens, but there don't seem to be any that could work on the large scale that they would be needed. Current solutions for individuals to help with health effects are mostly short term: limiting time spent outside on days with high pollen counts, removing high allergen weeds like ragweed, only having insect-pollinated plants in your garden, and only doing yard work after rain. The significant change in mitigating health effects will happen when there is a reduction in greenhouse gasses and reductions in pollen count will follow. Individual efforts coupled with national and international efforts are all key to accomplishing this.
DeleteHi Mira, great job! Its actually really interesting to read this article and your review as I had a discussion with my friends that we thought allergies have been worse recently. I never really looked into why that could be and just thought it was a fluke year. Even though the research article is published last year all these things still stand true this year and tt's interesting because in class we talked about how agriculture is/will be affected by climate change but it's the opposite for pollen. I think your review on the news article was spot on as I wish they would have talked about the chemical processes that are the reason for supercharging pollen.
ReplyDeleteHi Mira, great choice and analysis of article and paper. With our discussion last class about conveying the importance of climate change to a larger audience, papers like this that highlight connections to common health conditions are a good example of such. I agree with your rating as I found that the article was overall well written and I liked how they included the example of the thunderstorm asthma tragedy to emphasize the severity of this issue. However, including more information about the chemical reactions would have improved the news article, especially given the focus of the peer reviewed paper.
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ReplyDeleteHi Mira, this was a really interesting topic! I think one thing that popped out to me immediately was that both the article and the paper is that this is specifically looking at inhalation as the route of exposure and airborne allergens, which are incredibly understudied. It was interesting to see some mention in the paper about various allergy syndromes. I'm curious if these findings could potentially spur more research into these areas if we're seeing it become more prevalent. Although the study links oxidation to increasing the allergenicity of pollen, the paper it cites actually describes the conditions that the actual plant was grown under producing pollen that is has a higher allergenic response. Oxidation can actually be the a leading cause of allergen reduction when we specifically look at the protein level for a lot of allergens, so this seems misleading. I think it's still very important to focus on how climate change is influencing environmental conditions that produce "stronger" allergens but allergens themselves may not be affected by these conditions. Most of the paper focused on how an increase in allergen production can increase exposure, which is really the cause of allergic reactions. Usually we say that the "dose makes the poison" and it would be interesting to see this concept applied to allergens!
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think the study was really interesting and I liked that it gave some solutions and actions to take to address this issue!
I think you're right that the study could have touched on socioeconomic risk factors for exposure and think the study was really vague mentioning environmental justice. Do you think there might actually be a more significant impact if we focused on environmental justice communities, where we already know asthma rates are higher?
Hi Hunter! I believe that working towards solving environmental justice issues should be our first step in mitigating this problem. Since those of lowers socioeconomic status are disproportionally affected by allergens and pollutants that cause respiratory distress, it only seems right that they should be the initial focus.
DeleteI thought that it was really interesting to see that because of greenhouse gases, the pollen season gets extended. It's a topic that I feel like I haven't ever heard before on the news, and it's just another reason to advocate for ways to reduce our emissions to mitigate some of these effects that climate change is causing. The "thunderstorm asthma" event is a really good example of just how impactful this topic is and that it is a lot more impactful/serious than what a lot of people probably realize. I thought that the news article did a really good job at communicating the science to a general audience. I would argue that the article maybe is actually too long for a general audience and that it could have made its point more concise. Since it was so long in length, I do agree that it could have mentioned the specific chemical processes a bit more. One question I have from the post is you mention that certain allergenic proteins can be oxidized by things like CO2, NO2, O3, which increases their immunogenicity. What is the specific reason for why this oxidation causes it to more likely trigger allergic reactions?
ReplyDeleteHi Evan! The thunderstorm asthma event was an extremely interesting, I wonder why it hasn't been discussed more it is as fatal as the BBC article says. Pollutants like NO2 and O3 are able to oxidize allergenic proteins by binding to their surfaces and adding changing their chemical structure. This new structure is seen as more of a threat to the immune system and will therefore result in a more severe reaction. This is what the articles are referencing when they say an allergen is "more potent."
DeleteThanks for sharing this! I get spring and fall allergies, so reading these articles resonates with me as yet another reason to mitigate climate change. I enjoyed the storytelling aspect of the news article because it acted as a good attention grabber and made the topic easy to understand. I disagree with your critique of the article, which should have included more details on the chemical processes related to pollen and pollutant formation. I think that the purpose of the article is to inform the public about a specific environmental issue by using easy-to-understand terms and concepts, so it is accessible to everyone. I think the news article did an excellent job of mentioning some studies and their findings, without going into too much detail that would make it difficult for the general public to understand. Throughout the news article, I appreciated that the author linked to a few studies, which give readers the opportunity to learn more about the specific science if they want.
ReplyDeleteHi Mira, I really enjoyed the topic of this article and your analysis. I agree with your analysis of the article and also think the inclusion of/greater emphasis on chemical processes would have increased the quality of the article overall. In your discussion of the paper, you mention that urbanization is also a factor in worsening allergies. I am curious if you have any insight as to whether mitigation efforts like greenhouse gas reduction would overall be less effective in allergy reduction in urban areas, because lack of biodiversity is also a significant contributing factor to increased allergen sensitivity in these places.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your analysis! It had not occurred to me how many pathways by which climate change can influence allergens, but given the wide-ranging effect of changing temperature and atmospheric composition, it makes sense. You talked about both the effects of allergen protonation, and of increased particulate matter. I am curious if the research indicated a relative influence of these allergen-increasing mechanisms? I was wondering because I had never considered the potential for allergens to be made more potent due to the presence of other atmospheric species and would be interested to know how influential that aspect is as far as its direct impact on allergenic diseases.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Kai! Climate change is really does have the ability to affect everything! The allergen particles collide with pollutants and fragment or, making them able to penetrate further into the lungs and causing more damage. Additionally, pollutants like ozone and nitrous oxides can stick to the allergens and have the same affect on our lungs
DeleteHi Mira! I particularly liked this article! All too often I see the articles discussing research as being a cursory overview, not really talking much about the important parts or trusting the reader to understand more complex terms the author may define. This BBC article does a great job of relating the importance of these studies by including anecdotes-- I thought it was a great touch to really relay the importance and relevance of the discussed science. One gap I noticed was the lack of discussion of "botanical sexism." This is a practice that is particularly prevalent in urban areas where for dioecious trees, significantly more male trees are planted, as they don't produce fruit. What ends up happening from this is a much higher concentration of pollen released in the area, as only male dioecious trees produce pollen. This goes hand in hand with loss of biodiversity, but I would be curious how this increase in pollen concentration from the skewed ratio of male trees factors in as well.
ReplyDeleteHi Mira, great job. I was really intrigued by this because I have really bad allergies and asthma. I really liked the article, but I would rate it a 7/10. I agree with you that it breaks complicated chemistry down into simple terms, but I found the article to be a bit lengthy, and it didn’t mention the study until halfway into the article. However, I can acknowledge that the Melbourne incident was interesting and a good way to catch the reader’s attention. Do other major weather events affect asthma?
ReplyDelete