Daniel Coates of Aerobiology Research Laboratories was recently included in the following news story featured on CBC News by reporter Lauren Pelley. Read a brief overview of the story and then follow the link to read more.
Which cities are Canada’s allergy hot spots? And what treatments really work? Here’s the latest on how to cope
You know the symptoms: headaches and congestion, red, itchy eyes, a nose that runs like a faucet even though you don’t have a cold.
They’re all familiar feelings of seasonal allergies, which are striking Canadians across much of the country as the weather warms up. And thanks to a variety of factors, including ongoing climate change, this pesky annual annoyance is also getting worse, with longer and stronger allergy seasons becoming the new norm.
“Certainly, allergy season has started,” said Dr. Moshe Ben-Shoshan, an associate professor in the division of allergy, immunology and dermatology at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
“We’re starting to see patients coming due to symptoms of hay fever and asthma flares and eczema flares, coinciding with the higher levels of pollen.”
What’s making allergy season worse?
Scientists have been raising alarms for years that allergy seasons in Canada are getting worse. The main culprit? Climate change.
“We’re seeing the allergy seasons becoming longer and more severe. The pollen counts are much higher,” said Dr. Gordon Sussman, a Toronto-based allergist and clinical immunologist.
North America has endured higher pollen counts for more than a decade, and some researchers say pollution and shifts in carbon dioxide levels may be impacting plant growth. Another new study, published in January, also points the finger at light pollution, suggesting constant artificial lighting in some urban centres could be contributing to longer pollen seasons.
“But the major determinant is the climate, and the fact that it warms earlier,” said Sussman. “So we’re seeing seasons begin earlier and go on later.”
And it’s not just in Canada. One study on seasonal allergies in the mainland United States found the pollen seasons of many plants started an average of three days earlier in the 2000s than in the 1990s, while the annual total of daily airborne pollen also increased by nearly 50 per cent.
Other research looking at more than a dozen cities around the world, including Winnipeg and Saskatoon, found more than 70 per cent of the locations studied showed increases in annual pollen rates over a period of several decades — highlighting an “important link” between rising temperatures and public health.
Which regions are hardest hit by seasonal allergies?
This spring, seasonal allergy sufferers in the B.C. cities of Vancouver and Victoria could face a major spike in symptoms as tree pollen fills the air, according to a new report from Aerobiology Research Laboratories, which operates more than 30 allergen monitoring stations across the country.
“The warmer West Coast climate is accelerating the release of highly allergenic pollen types such as birch and oak,” said Daniel Coates, the company’s director.
That region has faced elevated levels since late January, but the rest of the country is now catching up, with most regions entering the early stages of tree-pollen season.
Click to continue reading How to survive if you’re suffering through Canada’s ‘longer and more severe’ allergy seasons | CBC News
