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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Adaptive Cropping Systems Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #360326
Research Project: Experimentally Assessing and Modeling the Impact of Climate and Management on the Resiliency of Crop-Weed-Soil Agro-Ecosystems

Location: Adaptive Cropping Systems Laboratory

Title: Temperature-related changes in airborne allergenic pollen abundance and seasonality for the northern hemisphere

Author
item Ziska, Lewis
item MAKRA, LASZLO - University Of Szeged
item HARRY, SUSAN - Tanana Valley Clinic
item BRUFFAERTS, NICOLAS - Mycology And Aerobiology Service, Sciensano
item HENDRICKX, MARIJKE - Mycology And Aerobiology Service, Sciensano
item COATES, FRANCES - Aerobiology Research Laboratories
item SAARTO, ANNIKA - University Of Turku
item THIBAUDON, MICHEL - Le Re´seau National De Surveillance Ae´robiologique (RNSA)
item OLIVER, GILLES - Le Re´seau National De Surveillance Ae´robiologique (RNSA)
item DAMIALIS, ATHANASIOS - Aristotle University Of Thessaloniki
item CHARLAMPOPOULOS, ATHANASIOS - Aristotle University Of Thessaloniki
item VOKOU, DESPOINA - Aristotle University Of Thessaloniki
item HEIDMARSSON, STARRI - Icelandic Institute Of Natural History
item GUDJOHNSEN, ELLY - Icelandic Institute Of Natural History
item BONINI, MAIRA - Ats Of The Metropolitan City Of Milan
item OH, JAE-WON - Hanyang University
item SULLIVAN, KRISTA - Clinical Research Institute
item FORD, LINDA - The Asthma And Allergy Center
item BROOKS, G. DANIEL - The Asthma And Allergy Center
item MYSZKOWSKA, DOROTA - Jagiellonian University
item SEVERONA, ELENA - Moscow State University
item GEHRIG, REGULA - Federal Office Of Meteorology And Climatology Meteoswiss
item RAMON, GERMAN - Universidad Nacional Del Sur (UNS)
item BEGGS, PAUL - Macquarie University
item KNOWLTON, KIM - Columbia University
item CRIMMINS, ALLISON - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Submitted to: The Lancet Planetary Health Abstract Booklet
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/23/2019
Publication Date: 3/1/2019
Citation: Ziska, L.H., Makra, L., Harry, S., Bruffaerts, N., Hendrickx, M., Coates, F., Saarto, A., Thibaudon, M., Oliver, G., Damialis, A., Charlampopoulos, A., Vokou, D., Heidmarsson, S., Gudjohnsen, E., Bonini, M., Oh, J., Sullivan, K., Ford, L., Brooks, G., Myszkowska, D., Severona, E., Gehrig, R., Ramon, G.D., Beggs, P.J., Knowlton, K., Crimmins, A.R. 2019. Temperature-related changes in airborne allergenic pollen abundance and seasonality for the northern hemisphere. The Lancet Planetary Health Abstract Booklet. 3:124-131.

Interpretive Summary: Ongoing climate change may, through rising temperatures, alter allergenic pollen biology exposures across the northern hemisphere. USDA in collaboration with multiple global locations, examined the role of temperature over time in altering both the length of the pollen season and the amount of pollen from known floral sources of allergenic pollen. We found that for 14 of the 17 locations pollen load—the amount of pollen in the air during the pollen season, had increased over the last 20+ years. Similarly, 13 of the 17 locations indicated an increase in pollen season exposure over time, lengthening, on average, approximately 0.9 days per year. Our analysis indicates that ongoing increases in temperature extremes (minimum and maximum) may already be contributing to extensions in seasonal duration and increased pollen load for multiple aero-allergenic pollen taxa over diverse locations around the world. This information will be of use to weed biologists, allergists, ecologists and pharmaceutical companies globally.

Technical Abstract: Ongoing climate change may, through rising temperatures, alter allergenic pollen biology across the northern hemisphere. An extensive investigation for global data sets that consistently recorded pollen indices (e.g. length and intensity) was conducted. Seventeen locations across three continents with long-term (average of ~26 years) quantitative records of seasonal concentrations of multiple pollen (aero-allergen) taxa met these criteria. These were analyzed in the context of recent maximum and minimum temperature changes associated with anthropogenic climate change. Analysis of these datasets indicated that 14 of the 17 locations demonstrated increases in seasonal cumulative pollen, or pollen load. Similarly, 13 of the 17 locations indicated an increase in season length over time, lengthening, on average, approximately 0.9 days per year. Annual cumulative increases in temperature maximums (Tmax) or minimums (Tmin) over time were significantly associated with percent increases in seasonal pollen load when compared across global locations. Similar results were observed for pollen season length, but only for cumulative degree days (above the freezing point) for Tmax and Tmin. In addition, temporal increases in frost free days (FFD) were highly correlated to both increases in pollen load and pollen season length when averaged for all 17 locations. Our analysis detects that the ongoing increase in temperature extremes (minimum and maximum) may already be contributing to extensions in seasonal duration and increased pollen load for multiple aero-allergenic pollen taxa over diverse locations around the world. This global investigation highlights an important link between ongoing warming and public health, one that could be exacerbated as temperatures continue to increase.