Posted on 05/03/2007 4:34:52 AM PDT by Fractal Trader
There's growing scientific evidence that global climate change is linked to the dramatic rise in allergies and asthma in the Western world.
Studies have found that a higher level of carbon dioxide turbocharges the growth of plants whose pollen triggers allergies. In 2001 Lewis Ziska planted ragweed -- the main cause of hay fever in the fall -- at urban, suburban and rural sites near Baltimore. The plots had the same seeds and soil and were watered in the same way. Yet the downtown plants soon exploded in size, flowering earlier and producing five times the pollen of rural plants. The city pollen was a lot more toxic, too. The likely cause? The city plants experienced warmer temperatures and 20% more carbon dioxide, the effect of more cars and pollution.
"We can see the changes now, and they already have implications for public health," says Dr. Ziska, a plant physiologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Allergies and asthma are closely linked; more than 70% of asthma sufferers also have allergies.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of the world's leading climate researchers, will address the issue in its August report. According to Bettina Menne, a doctor at the World Health Organization and a lead author of the chapter on climate change and health, the report will say that higher temperatures and carbon-dioxide levels have increased the abundance of pollen, known to trigger allergies and worsen asthma. It will also conclude that spring, when allergy-causing tree pollen is at peak levels, has been arriving 10 to 15 days earlier over the past three decades, a trend expected to continue in coming years.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I think a strong case can be made. I mean global warming has been increasing during the last 30 years and in that same time homosexuality has flourished. What more evidence do we need?
I know I’m inviting accusations of being a “moonbat”, but before all those extremely high, multitudinous chem trails crisscrossing the clear blue skies became nearly an everyday event, I didn’t have any allergies or asthma. Did you?
Allergies are caused by an over active immune system not a sterile environment. Allergies are inherited.
Global warming is causing me to go blind, my reading glasses steam up from getting hot under the collar reading global warming drivel, causing my eyes to strain, resulting in further optometrist bills.
I’ve read some things about that. It seems very plausible to me. We’ve learned how to decrease the rates many communicable diseases because we know more about washing ourselves and our environment. But there certainly can be a downside to that.
Global warming makes people fat.
Global warming stole my bike.
So global warming, er, climate change is now affecting the vernal equinox.
This is more series than I thought.
They need no proof, just a some what plausible possibility...
I’ll be sure to show this article to my husband, he blames my cats for his asthma & allergy problems. Now we know the true cause!
What is age N, pray tell? I’d lived in the house I’m in for five or six years before the “chem trails” arrived on the scene with no problems. And I am not the only one suffering with a sudden onset of asthma and allergies. Years ago they were the exception. Now they are the rule among the entire population.
I do not blame “global warming” for anything. I do not believe global warming is a man caused event, but a normal cycle of the earth.
So I tend to blame the chem trails, which I’ve heard have been annalyzed to contain both mercury and arsenic, among other toxic chemicals.
The biggest cause of the "dramatic" increase in allergies is people moving to warmer climates. For instance, in 30 years, the population of California has increased by 50%. I have had allergies and asthma much longer than that.
Allergies are caused by environmental exposure to allergens, which are minutes particles like pollen, dust, and spores. In the Sacramento Valley, there are hundreds if not thousands of allergens blowing up and down at any given time. These allergens are mostly natural, from trees, mosses, and molds, and they can be from crops, which aren't as natural. They may be caused by air pollution from internal combustion engines, diesel, or fuel additives, who knows? I'm sure that cars and industry contribute to allergies, but there is less industry these days.
The single most common thread in the increase in the prevalence of allergies is population growth in areas where allergens are present. I really think and believe (not feeeeel) that people are the cause of more allergies, because they are moving to where the allergens are.
“carbon dioxide turbocharges the growth of plants whose pollen triggers allergies”
carbon dioxide= growth of plants
plants= asthma
asthma=disability and death
plants=the shrine of tree huggers
tree huggers=are killing untold thousands
I guess we need to start fighting for the graying of our planet earth
What causes an over active immune system? I told you, an inherited gene causes it. Any more technical answer than that I can’t give you. No need to get huffy. As a kid, in the 40’s I couldn’t have lived a less sterile life, dogs, cats, chickens, cows, horses, mud pies, climbing trees, playing in the ditch, all barefoot and my brother and I both were asthmatics with severe hayfever symptoms. There were allergies in both my parents families. You can talk about global warming, antibiotic soap, sterile households but it’s genes.
Global Warming caused me to put the TP roll on backwards...
When allergy sufferers move to a different location away from the allergens that cause them a problem they are better for a few years. Then they develop allergies to the new allergens they are exposed to in their new location. If there is a part of the country where there are little or no allergens I wish you would tell me where it is because I would move there.
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