Climate change adds allergies

CRISIS: LONGER EXPOSURE, EXTRA POLLEN

- 

Runny nose, itching eyes, worsening asthma symptoms – the effects of hay fever are nothing to sneeze at, experts say, warning of an "explosion" of allergies as climate change lengthens and intensifies pollen seasons.

The UN's World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has found that a shifting climate has begun altering the production and distribution of pollen and spores.

As winter frost thaws earlier and spring weather gets warmer, plants and trees flower earlier, extending the pollen season, numerous studies have shown.

Air pollution can also increase people's sensitivity to allergens, while invasive species are spreading into new regions and causing fresh waves of allergies.