Study: Pollen Counts To More Than Double By 2040 A man blows his
nose. Allergy sufferers may want to stock up on meds. According
to new research, America's pollen counts may more than double in
the next three decades. The culprit is climate change, as warmer
temperatures lead to longer blooming seasons for allergenic
plants such as ragweed, said Leonard Bielory, an immunologist
and a visiting researcher at Rutgers University, where he is
funded by the Environmental Protection Agency to study likely
changes in pollen-producing plants in response to global
warming. Bielory will report his findings this week at the
annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and
Immunology in Anaheim, Calif. By simulating various temperature
and precipitation scenarios that may occur with climate change,
Bielory and his colleagues have found that average pollen counts
in the United States are likely to reach 21,735 grains per cubic
meter of air (or per 35 cubic feet of air) by 2040. In
comparison, average pollen co