Nebraska's increasingly warm and dry weather is stretching out allergy season and leading to higher pollen counts.
Dr. Andrew Rorie with the University of Nebraska Medical Center said pollen arrived roughly a week earlier than usual in the Lincoln and Omaha areas. The National Phenology Network projected that spring came to the region around three weeks ahead of schedule.
“When they’re stressed, whether that's due to drought, pollution or carbon dioxide, that makes the tree think it needs to do something in order to survive and produce offspring,” Rorie said. “Those stressors make the trees make more pollen.”
Juniper and cedar trees are especially responsive to a mild winter and drought stress, producing larger quantities of pollen.
Dry and windy conditions add to the problem by allowing pollen to remain airborne for extended periods. Juniper pollen can travel more than 1,500 miles under the right conditions.
Beyond trees, certain fungal spores also thrive in dry conditions, Rorie said fungal spores have been appearing earlier in the year than previous seasons.
This worsening trend is not unique to Nebraska. Monitoring stations on nearly every continent have documented longer pollen seasons in recent decades, caused by extended frost-free growing periods. The last spring frosts are occurring earlier each year, and first fall frosts are arriving later, allowing plants more time to produce and release pollen.
“Every place has been monitoring pollen for decades and decades. We're generally seeing a longer pollen season, and a more robust pollen season,” Rorie said.
For allergy sufferers on high pollen days, Rorie recommends keeping windows closed to prevent outdoor pollen from migrating inside, whether at home or in a vehicle. After spending time outdoors, showering to rinse off pollen and using a saline sinus rinse can help provide relief. Over-the-counter allergy medication is also an effective option for many people.
Rorie said it’s time to consider consulting an allergist if symptoms persist for weeks or months, if you experience sinus infections frequently, lose sleep due to congestion or coughing or find no relief from over-the-counter medications.