On the plus side, they mention in the press release that CO2 boosts plant growth.
A look at tomorrow’s climate:
Pollen levels are rising across Europe
16.04.2012, Press releases
From Reykjavik to Thessaloniki, pollen levels are on the increase. A team of researchers headed by Prof. Annette Menzel at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen reports that pollen counts have already risen across Europe in recent years. Their findings are based on an analysis of pollen time series in 13 countries (PLoS ONE). This trend is more pronounced in urban areas, where pollen counts are rising by an average of around three percent per year compared with one percent per year in rural areas. And the scientists believe that climate change will strengthen this trend.
When trees and plants release their pollen, millions of hay fever sufferers are affected by sneezing fits and itchy, watery eyes. Today in Germany, roughly every fourth person suffers from allergies – and this figure is set to rise. Climate change is seen as one of the factors fuelling the increase in allergic responses. Lab experiments and a small number of open-air studies have shown that increased concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air can boost plant growth and subsequently pollen production. Warmer temperatures and invasive species are also leading to longer pollen seasons.
An international team of researchers headed by ecoclimatologist Prof. Annette Menzel at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) has revealed just how much the pollen burden has increased across Europe.
The team of scientists evaluated 1,221 long-term pollen series from thirteen different countries, calculating normalized trends of annual pollen indices over a period of at least ten years. These indices can now be used to compare different key allergenic pollen species from different climates.
The researchers found that the concentration of airborne pollens has risen particularly sharply in cities in recent years. In urban areas across Europe, pollen concentration has risen by an average of three percent per year. In rural areas, they recorded a rise of one percent per annum. An increase in CO2 concentration is the most probable cause for the rise in pollen levels.
Prof. Menzel believes that allergy sufferers from Reykjavik to Thessaloniki will be exposed to even higher pollen levels in the future. “Even today, cities are warmer, dryer and more polluted places,” explains Prof. Menzel. The ecoclimatologist is therefore using urban areas as a testbed for developing more accurate predictions about the effects of climate change. Temperatures in dense, urban environments, known as heat islands, can be one to three degrees higher than the surrounding areas. Levels of CO2 and pollutants are also often higher in these environments. Ozone values, however, are usually higher in the regions surrounding larger cities. But this does not give the all-clear for rural areas, as the climatologist explains: “The conditions we are recording in urban environments today are expected to spread to rural areas in the future.”
Pollen, however, is only a carrier of allergens, making pollen count just one factor in the prediction of future allergy trends. Prof. Menzel is therefore working with allergologist Prof. Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann from the Center of Allergy and Environment (ZAUM) (TUM / German Research Center for Environmental Health) to research allergy trends in urban and rural areas. Their investigations have revealed that levels of allergens vary from year to year and that pollen counts also differ in rural and urban areas. More detailed research results will soon be available. What the scientists do already know, however, is that city dwellers will not be the only ones suffering from future climate trends.
Background:
The research took place within the framework of the Global Change focus group at the Institute for Advanced Study of the Technische Universitaet Muenchen.
Publication:
C. Ziello, T.H. Sparks, N. Estrella, J. Belmonte, K.C. Bergmann, E. Bucher, M.A. Brighetti, A. Damialis, M. Detandt, C. Galan, R. Gehrig, L. Grewling, A.M. Gutierrez Bustillo, M. Hallsdottir, M.-C. Kockhans-Bieda, C. De Linares, D. Myszkowska, A. Paldy, A. Sanchez, M. Smith, M. Thibaudon, A. Travaglini, A. Uruska, R.M. Valencia-Barrera, D. Vokou, R. Wachter, L.A. de Weger, A. Menzel (2012): Changes to airborne pollen counts across Europe, PLoS ONE
http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0034076
Contact:
Technische Universitaet Muenchen
Prof. Annette Menzel Chair of Ecoclimatology
Phone: 08161 714740
Email: amenzel@wzw.tum.de
http://www.oekoklimatologie.wzw.tum.de
More CO2 ==> more and more vigorous plants ==> more pollen ==> more sneezes. Oh, nose!
\9-{
I’m worried AGW will fade the curtains!
Those folks should come to the Southern US during the spring pine pollen season and watch everything turn yellow-green. I don’t think they would notice other pollen quite as much.
Perchance, urban sprawl couldn’t explain the disparity between Urban and Rural findings?
Those Townies do love their flower gardens – especially in Europe
Andi
Pollen, however, is only a carrier of allergens…
Huh. So all the pharma researchers who refer to pollen as an allergen (rather than merely a carrier of allergens) are wrong?
Ah guten tag Frau Professor. I have just noticed that there is a lot of lime scale in my kettle and wondered whether you have some explanation.
Bitte, of course silly me, it’s caused by climate change.
What? Do I vish to surrender to the cause?
Nein danke. Not yet!
Depending, of course, on your definition of ‘recent’ this study might be a little missleading since temps haven’t been rising over the past ten years or so. Maybe they should be identifying what these people are reacting to rather than just make assumptions.
I thought warming has plateaued over the last ten years or so. Maybe these researchers should first determine what is really causing the allergies.
Just trying to reset the name. Don’t like wordpress.
Now pollen is a burdon
quote
much the pollen burden has increased
unquote
This is hillarious!
What exactly is “the pollen burden”? Is this the fraction of pollen transported by bees globally?
I wonder if this research has accounted for the following
1. There are more people living in ctiies now ever before.Perhaps they are growing more plants in their inner city gardens?
2.There has been, in theUK at least, campaigns to get people growing their own produce in towns and cities – thta alos measn more plants, as well as more green initiative to plant trees in teh city and many office building in London now have rooftop gardens complete with beehives.
They will be suggesting pollen quotas next.
Science has come to a ridiculous and laughably sad state.
Lab experiments and a small number of open-air studies have shown that increased concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air can boost plant growth and subsequently pollen production.
I have read of numerous people stating, both in WUWT and elsewhere, that it is normal practice to increase CO2 in order to increase plant growth – and these people need research monies to ‘prove’ this.
Instead of seeing the increase in growth as a positive as a way to feed a hungry world, they see it as a negative of ‘global warming’.
We’d best let Toyota and the UNEP know that they are creating a problem by planting even more trees (http://www.toyotafund.eu/news/pressreleases/unep.aspx – The Toyota Fund for Europe (TFfE) – with support from NGO partners and Toyota companies – will plant 1.2 million trees in Europe by the end of next year as part of UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign.)
Think of the children and grandchildren, etc, etc.
They are tinkering with the Arctic Ice Data over at NSIDC. Apparently, the data needsa to be massaged…….I mean adjusted……….or made better or something.
This is really hilarious, now thriving plants is portrayed as “city dwellers” “suffering from future climate trends”. The logical consequence of this would be to wish for a new glaciation of most of Europe, and Arctic tundra replacing the (allergen-producing!) olive groves of the mediterranean countries.
But of course the whole point is just to get a share of the Climate Research Money.
g2-b369c06850afa63886091a1f0601abd5 says:
April 18, 2012 at 12:27 am
“I thought warming has plateaued over the last ten years or so. Maybe these researchers should first determine what is really causing the allergies.”
Prof. Annette Menzel mentions an increasing CO2 level as well as expected future increase in warm growing season as conflation of reasons for more plant growth productivity and pollen production, and she also drags UHI into the mix, so she’s safe… at least two of those will continue.
So she’s only dragging in CAGW to be safe on the fund-seeking side.
Warmist journalists in Germany, starving from a dearth of CAGW news, happily reported about this otherwise unremarkable finding.
So are the city plants growing bigger and better because of CO2 fertilisation, like every other plant on the planet? Or is it down to Urban Heat Island Effect? Or is it both?
Once we shut down the ridiculous AGW claims it will be possible to look objectively at the real effects of increasing CO2. Where I live in the Blue Mountains of NSW, for instance, there has been a massive increase in burnable biomass in the surrounding bush, making the prospect of the next bushfire season far more terrifying. And this may be similar — a genuine phenomenon, but wrongly attributed.
I guess that if they put ‘global warming’ in the grant proposal (which seems to be the surefire method of getting funding, then it’s only courteous to mention it in the final paper.
That’s a key failing of a monopsomy — only one buyer (government) but multiple sellers.
marchesarosa,
This article. talks about ozone, but they’re really referring to CO2. Thay just can’t admit it.
. . .
DirkH says:
“g2-b369c06850afa63886091a1f0601abd5…”
Easy for you to say☺
Regarding rise in allergies, what I blame is the civilisation. Back in medieval times, allergic people died very young due to their problems. Nowadays, allergy stopped being negative evolutionary factor as allergic people get medical treatment. So it’s on the rise until it starts being evolutionary limitation again. Not our environment, but the fact that we have medical treatment for them is making allergies worse and more common.
So. It’s warm earlier then usual, whatever usual is, and more plants are spreading more pollen? And this is a screw-up because???
Plus I thought that more flora made for a more healthy and beneficial enviroment for all life??
Am I missing something???
And as far as more allergies goes,that’s just our helicopter parent world, and trying to make everything sterile for the “kiddies” to save them, that is actually harming them. As any “old”-timer here knows full well, the more you are exposed to the germs and viruses of everyday life at a young age, the more your immune system can develop and ward them off. We are turning the kids of NA today into the Natives of NA 300 years ago, where a harmless germ/virus to the Europeans wiped out millions of never before exposed natives.
@g2-b369c06850afa63886091a1f0601abd5
Depending, of course, on your definition of ‘recent’ this study might be a little missleading since temps haven’t been rising over the past ten years or so…
Of course they have! The pollen must be a proxy, auto-connected to the temperature. I suspect that all the missing heat has gone into making the pollen… Let me see if I can find a hockey-stick in there….
/sarc off
Greg Scott says:
April 18, 2012 at 12:07 am
I’m worried AGW will fade the curtains!
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Sorry, daylight savings already does that…
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Seriously though. Twenty eight authors for this one paper!
Their institute must have an ‘every child gets a prize’ publication authorship policy.
I wonder if they even realize where food comes from.
Oh, of course they do. All food comes from the shops. /sarc
I hate to destroy their theory, but it is obvious this has nothing to do with “global warming/climate disruption/climate change” (TM).
The fact that the numbers are higher in urban area is the obvious indication this has to do with humans planting more trees and flowers in their environment.
The environmental conscience and the realization that plants are beneficial to life within the cities leads to more and more green areas in them, hence higher pollen rate.