Climate change and its impact on birch pollen quantities and the start of the pollen season an example from Switzerland for the period 1969–2006

Abstract

As published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) global warming is a reality and its impact is huge like the increase of extreme weather events, glacier recession, sea level rise and also effects on human health. Among them allergies to airborne pollen might increase or change in pattern due to the invasion of new allergic plants or due to different behavior of plants like earlier flowering. In this study we used the longest Swiss airborne pollen data set to examine the influence of the temperature increase on the time of flowering. In the case of Basel, where pollen data for 38 years are available, it was shown that due to a temperature increase the start of flowering in the case of birch occurred about 15 days earlier. Apart from a shift of the start of the flowering there is also a trend towards higher annual birch pollen quantities and an increase of the highest daily mean pollen concentrations. Due to global warming and because symptoms may appear earlier in the year people suffering from a pollen allergy might face a new unaccustomed situation.

Flowering Phenology of Selected Linden (TiliaL.) Taxa in Relation to Pollen Seasons

“…As confirmed by the results of numerous studies, climate change causes changes in the growth cycle of plants. The results of phenological observations, in particular flowering observations (Chmielewski & Rötzer, 2001;Primack et al, 2004;Czernecki & Jabłońska, 2016), but also aerobiological observations allow us to determine precisely the beginning and end of pollen release in plants (Frei & Gassner, 2008;Puc et al, 2015;Zhang et al, 2015). The results of these observations are the strongest biological signal of the existence of such changes.…”

Allerjenik Betula (Huş Ağacı) Polenlerinin Türkiye’deki Dağılımları

“…İtalya'nın kuzeyinde son zamanlarda huş ağacının peyzajda kullanımı Betula polen duyarlılığının artışı ile ilişkilendirilmiştir (83). İsveç'te yapılan çalışmada 38 yıllık periyotta Betula polen miktarının sıcaklık artışına bağlı olarak arttığı tespit edilmiştir (94). Yapılan çalışmalarda uzun yıllar zarfında gerçekleşen sıcaklık artışına bağlı olarak Betula ve Alnus gibi allerjik öneme sahip türlerin polen konsantrasyonlarının artış eğiliminde olduğu saptanmıştır ve bu çalışmalar iklim değişikliklerinin polen konsantrasyonları üzerine önemli bir etkiye sahip olduğunu göstermektedir (95,96).…”

MACVIA-ARIA Sentinel NetworK for allergic rhinitis (MASK-rhinitis): the new generation guideline implementation

“…The duration of the pollen season is extended in some species. Some plants produce a greater quantity of pollen (149)(150)(151) or pollen with stronger allergenicity (152)(153)(154)(155) under modified climatic conditions. New allergenic pollen types can appear and result in patients developing new allergies (e.g.…”