Eric Worrall writes: We’re all set to sneeze more often as the globe warms, according to a new study published in PLOS One.
According to the abstract;
“One expected effect of climate change on human health is increasing allergic and asthmatic symptoms through changes in pollen biology. Allergic diseases have a large impact on human health globally, with 10–30% of the population affected by allergic rhinitis and more than 300 million affected by asthma. Pollen from grass species, which are highly allergenic and occur worldwide, elicits allergic responses in 20% of the general population and 40% of atopic individuals. Here we examine the effects of elevated levels of two greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), a growth and reproductive stimulator of plants, and ozone (O3), a repressor, on pollen and allergen production in Timothy grass (Phleum pratense L.). We conducted a fully factorial experiment in which plants were grown at ambient and/or elevated levels of O3 and CO2, to simulate present and projected levels of both gases and their potential interactive effects. We captured and counted pollen from flowers in each treatment and assayed for concentrations of the allergen protein, Phl p 5. We found that elevated levels of CO2 increased the amount of grass pollen produced by ~50% per flower, regardless of O3 levels. Elevated O3 significantly reduced the Phl p 5 content of the pollen but the net effect of rising pollen numbers with elevated CO2 indicate increased allergen exposure under elevated levels of both greenhouse gases. Using quantitative estimates of increased pollen production and number of flowering plants per treatment, we estimated that airborne grass pollen concentrations will increase in the future up to ~200%. Due to the widespread existence of grasses and the particular importance of P. pratense in eliciting allergic responses, our findings provide evidence for significant impacts on human health worldwide as a result of future climate change.”
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0111712
As someone who suffers asthma and hay fever, and who lives on the edge of a large tropical botanic garden, I’ve got some simple advice for anyone worried about rising pollen levels in a warmer world. Rather than shutting down industrial civilization, buy the full strength anti-histamine pills.
More contrived nonsense designed to trigger a funding reposnse by way of a grant application.
This is the sort of transparent rent seeking that would not be toelrated if AGW was infact a serious issue of any merit.
You see that parked car down there, a block away? When it hits you at 20mph, it will injure you very seriously, probably breaking bones. If it happens to be going 50mph, it will very likely kill you.
That parked car down there. A block away.
Good job.
+ a lot for both – .Eustace Cranch and Alan Robertson;
An excellent simile.
Appreciated.
Auto.
The BBC series Horizon did a programme about allergies a couple of months ago, called “Allergies: Modern Life and Me”. Inasmuch as it can be summed up in brief, we sophisticated moderns are mucking up all sorts of aspects of our relationship with our microbiota – but like all good science there are a lot of wrinkles, and it made an interesting hour’s viewing.
The programme has timed out on the iPlayer, but there must be a copy somewhere. There usually seems to be.
I bet they never even bothered to take a look at workers in Greenhouses with higher temps and up to 1200 ppm of co2.
So let’s start with the Netherlands- The Netherlands has around 9,000 greenhouse enterprises that operate over 10,000 hectares of greenhouses and employ some 150,000 workers.
Do greenhouse workers suffer from a higher degree of allergic and asthmatic symptoms?
Just search “greenhouse workers asthma” or scroll down from page 469 at this site:
http://books.google.com/books?id=RGFFlI1vNb8C&pg=PA469&lpg=PA469&dq=greenhouse+workers+asthma&source=bl&ots=FgsP57e_6x&sig=506BMUTGByWRucyxBRiQFjqbux4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=CLdbVKC5GcSBsQSo4oGQAg&ved=0CFQQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=greenhouse%20workers%20asthma&f=false
interesting, the book seems to have looked at a more realistic view than the report above.
now we have to evaluate the closed conditions of the greenhouse and florists. What temps and levels of co2.
Workers in low co2 vs increased co2. Varying temps .Is it just the increase of flowers per square foot.
I should add or more cats.
answer is Yes, but your question is not a relevant comparison. The confined air nature of a greenhouse means airborne pollen levels are far more elevated simply due the lack of air exchange rather higher CO2 induced pollen production.
indeed, the experiment above shows an increase in pollen , does this necessarily mean more levels of of allergic and asthmatic symptoms?
I am allergic to cats, will bigger cats make me worse or will more people suffer an allergy from being around bigger cats.
More BS published without question here in Auckland by the NZ Herald and NZTV. I wonder why they bother to employ “reporters” if they cannot question this sort of garbage. Well, maybe their days are numbered – we can always hope so.
The paper is reasonable. The authors’ conclusions, not based on Climate Change per se, but on elevated pCO2, are sound at the tested pCO2 of 800 ppm.
“In recent decades there has been an increase in the number of people affected by asthma all over the world, especially in children. ( the population has been increasing 200 000 a day)
However, since the 1990s the percentage of the population who are affected seems to have levelled out in the UK at least. ( co2 levels have risen)
CO2 does everything but cure cancer. If it could only cure cancer it would be complete in its existence.
It can. See here:
http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=85&ContentID=p07250
Well hell then CO2 does it all raises and lowers ocean levels. Heats and cools the air. Causes kitten sneezes and cures cancer. Thanks for the link I will read this I am in the medical field
Wait a minute. They experiment on plant growth by raising CO2 and O3 and got the results you would expect. Then they conclude “our findings provide evidence for significant impacts on human health worldwide as a result of future climate change”. Am I missing something? This experiment seems to have nothing at all to do with climate change.
I’m going to go and cut my toenails now.
This will cause Global Warming.
What do you mean, prove it?
I have said that it will.
Send money and I MIGHT publish my hypothesis.
Turn off the air conditioner and open your windows for your newborn infant to breathe the allergens because that first year is when our body’s immune system has to “learn” what it has to deal with. Very few people who grow up on farms, especially in Amish areas, develop allergies and asthma.
http://www.webmd.com/asthma/news/20120307/farm-life-linked-to-fewer-allergies
“And kids who live in either farming environment have much lower rates of allergies and asthma than children who don’t grow up on farms,” says Mark Holbreich, MD, of Allergy and Asthma Consultants in Indianapolis.”
Let kids play in the dirt.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/newborns_exposed_to_dirt_dander_and_germs_may_have_lower_allergy_and_asthma_risk
“The findings are consistent with the so-called hygiene hypothesis, which states that children who grow up in too-clean environments may develop hypersensitive immune systems that make them prone to allergies.”
( but don’t get carried away with the idea .. http://www.markroques.com/milk-rats.jpg )
And then the proposition that C-section babies are more susceptible to allergies. Not picking up bacteria as they pass through the birth canal.
Another suggestion has been the new super cleaners that kill all the bacteria around the house, no playing outside etc- so children don’t come in contact with bacteria as much as before.
Since a large part of our immune system is in our gut, it helps when the gut has a proper balance of microorganisms. Even a baby delivered by C-section can get a lot of help with that from having access to mother’s milk. Failing that, access to unpasteurized cow’s or goat’s milk can be helpful.
These days, in modern societies, it is likely that babies will lack sufficient numbers of the “good” bugs in their gut. It’s no coincidence that the “good” bugs are going missing since so much of our food and water (not to mention vaccines) contain persistent germ-killers.
Glyphosate (a/k/a the herbicide Roundup), which was originally patented as an antibiotic and chelator, and is used on so much of our food supply, preferentially kills off the “good” bugs, thus leaving other microorganisms like fungi to take over. I have seen papers that describe how Glyphosate actually enhances the growth of fungi.
It has become more and more common to see health authorities recommending their patients take probiotics, especially after a round of antibiotics. There are many different strains of probiotics available. I think it’s a good idea to take a variety of them. In addition, raw organic fruits and veggies (not to mention raw dairy, but that’s hard to get) can be a good natural source of them, as long as you don’t try to sterilize them. As I have experimented with various products and foods, one that surprised me was organic iceberg lettuce. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t be such a surprise if one remembers that cabbage can be made into sauerkraut with no other inoculation than the lactobacteria (some of the “good” bugs) that naturally reside on its leaves.
One more observation that I’ve made is that avoiding chloraminated tap water is kinder to the “good” bugs. That’s another story. I do want to mention, however, that while I explored the issue of water’s impact on gut health, I discovered that the man who runs the water purification plant for our municipality, himself, uses well water. 😉
So what does this have to do with allergies? Well, I thought I had developed either gluten intolerance or a wheat allergy, and (long story short) discovered that as long as I avoid the chloraminated tap water and other killers of “good” bugs, I can eat wheat without troubling my gut.
AFAIK, there is no clear connection between the incidence, or severity, of asthma and pollen or other allergens. Indeed, the steep rise in the incidence of asthma over the last half century or so is a mystery. This is especially so as the air in urban environments has actually become progressively cleaner. Theories have included that living in cleaner environments makes people more prone to asthma (lack of exposure to various bugs and irritants), but no-one really knows.
How so-called “scientists” can spout such nonsense in academic papers, when a couple of hours of research quickly shows this to be a crock, just highlights once again the degraded state of post-modern science.
Kidney stones too:
http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2014/11/04/climate-change-to-cause-kidney-stones/
Wonder if it will make you bald or lose at blackjack….
Hopefully we can end all carbon pollution and enter back into the glorious glacial conditions where the sneeze to freezing to death ratio will decrease.
I, like many other commenters here, see that this is an admission that global warming will make the world a more food productive place.
” Here we examine the effects of elevated levels of two greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), a growth and reproductive stimulator of plants,..”
Who said the world would be a poorer place if the climate warms and CO2 levels increase?
All of us except asthma sufferers should be rejoicing if CO2 is really warming the planet! I’m sure the asthma sufferers will make do as well.
Cheers
Roger
http://www.rogerfromnewzealand.wordpress.com
I have had asthma for all my life. O2 global crop production is plus 30 to 40 percent with no increase in water or land, then I will use my inhaler a couple of more times each month.
800 PPM of CO2 would have that much affect on crops.
Your government grant dollars hard at work supporting University bureaucracy…
They just keep coming up with one contradictory scenario after another and calling it “science!” The master plan seems to be: “Convince the masses that no matter what happens—drought, flood, heat wave, deep freeze, animals dying off, animals multiplying, crop failure and now overabundance of plants—it’s ALL caused by how we travel and heat our homes.” How can anyone with a functioning frontal lobe believe this horse pucky?