[Waves Splashing]
(Narrator) A summer day in Seattle
means warm temperatures
and people like Jeannie
Oliver enjoying her lunch
break outdoors
at Gas Works Park.
-It's just so iconic Seattle.
I love it.
And you can see everyone
just enjoying themselves.
The sea planes coming in.
[Sea plane buzzing]
- (Narrator) Oliver moved to Seattle
from Southern California
in the early nineties
and it didn't take long
for her to notice symptoms
she never had before.
-I was definitely sneezing
all the time. A lot.
And I didn't necessarily
have a lot of
post nasal drip,
but I would wake
up really congested
and have to blow my nose
all the time.
-(Narrator) Her active
lifestyle was a natural
fit for the Pacific Northwest,
but her body
had a different reaction
to the outdoors.
-I was just spending more time
outdoors, doing more outdoor sports,
and then I would get incredibly
itchy eyes to the point
where you know,
I was having to use
allergy eyedrops constantly
and I was always itchy
and it was affecting my vision.
-(Narrator) Oliver, who is a
functional nutritionist
and wellness coach, knew
her body was
allergic to something
and it was starting
to impact her life.
An allergist confirmed
it was pollen allergies.
-He did the skin prick testing
and looked at all
the different things
and there were several
tree pollens
that I was reacting to.
Molds were big,
but yeah, the pollens really showed up.
-(Narrator) At UW Medicine,
Clinical Assistant Professor of Allergy
and Immunology,
Dr. Jenny Yi Sun says Oliver’s
story of developing allergies
after moving to a new part of
the country is common.
-When the body sees something
that they eventually
develop allergies to,
there are allergy
cells that line
our airways, that line
our nasal tract
that once they see
that allergen
essentially release histamine.
And that's
one of the chemicals
in the body
that causes these
wonderful symptoms
that can impact a patient's
quality of life.
-(Narrator) Every year, Dr. Sun says,
some of her patients complain
their allergies are getting
more bothersome
and new research
supports they’re likely feeling
the effects of climate change.
-The temperatures
are getting warmer,
the rainy seasons are getting
longer as well,
so that not only increases
the length of pollen seasons,
but also increases
the amount of overlap.
So that's probably part of the reason
at least why allergies are getting worse
for some people.
-(Narrator) Here in the Pacific Northwest,
our temperate climate
is just right for pollen,
which usually peaks at the
low 50-degree mark.
We know plants generate energy
through photosynthesis,
a process that needs sunlight,
water and carbon dioxide.
Our atmosphere has carbon dioxide, naturally.
But as people burn more fossil
fuels like gasoline in cars
or coal in power plants, we're
putting more carbon dioxide in the air.
More carbon dioxide
means more heat is trapped
in the earth's atmosphere,
creating the greenhouse effect.
For plants and trees,
that warmth leads to more growth
and more pollen.
-When you add extra
heat to our earth system,
it shake things up
in some big ways.
The most obvious is
that we see
our weather changing.
-(Narrator) That's Bernadette Woods Placky
at Climate Central, a nonprofit
climate research organization.
As our climate warms,
all four seasons are warming up, too,
but at different rates
across the country.
This map shows
which season is getting warmer
the fastest in the U.S..
For most of the East Coast,
the blue dots
show winter is getting
warmer quicker
than other seasons.
And for us in the Pacific Northwest,
the yellow dots indicate
it's the summer season.
-For our specific analysis,
we looked at about 170 cities
around the U.S.
and 85% of those cities
experienced a lengthening allergy season.
-(Narrator) Research published
in the scientific journal PNAS
suggests human-caused climate warming
was the main reason
of lengthening pollen seasons.
Compared to 30 years ago,
the pollen season is
starting, on average,
20 days earlier and lasting
for almost a month longer.
-When you start to see the ground bud
that is happening
earlier and earlier.
On the opposite side in the fall,
when you get that first freeze,
that's happening later and later.
So you're growing
that growing season.
-(Narrator) If the rate of carbon
dioxide emissions continue,
the U.S. could face up to a 200%
increase in pollen production
by the end of the century.
In Seattle, our pollen count, is provided by
the Northwest Asthma and Allergy Center.
They measure pollen
with a special machine
on top of their roof in Northgate.
-It’s called a Burkard Sampler.
-(Narrator) Dr. Frank Virant
says the machine
gets moved around by the wind.
In the small intake,
the pollen comes in
and attaches itself to a slide.
That slide is then taken to the lab
and analyzed
three times a week
where pollen count is recorded.
-But these are good examples
of the kinds of pollens
that we’ll typically see.
Often these
that have three corners
like this, as is labeled here.
This is maple, poplar, elm, as an example.
-(Narrator) As temperatures are warming,
the pollen emitted
by different trees
and grasses
are also overlapping
more often.
-It doesn't seem to be going anywhere soon.
-(Narrator) For Oliver,
whether it's a day at the park
or conversations with her clients...
-It's definitely
starting earlier.
It's very noticeable.
People are complaining earlier
in the spring, later into the fall.
-(Narrator) The warmer weather
means Seattleites
get to enjoy those cherished
summer days longer.
But the hotter temperatures
raise the burden
for allergy sufferers
who likely won't be
catching a break
if the climate change
trends continue.
Watch CityStream, Tuesday nights
at seven on the Seattle Channel
or find us
anytime online
at seattlechannel.org.