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USA Today
28-04-2025
- Health
- USA Today
Earlier spring warm-ups extend seasonal allergies long into summer
Earlier spring warm-ups extend seasonal allergies long into summer If you have allergies, you know allergy seasons can be rough with the constant sneezing, watery eyes and stuffy sinuses. In the past few decades, scientists have found that seasonal allergens like mold, tree pollen and other spores have proliferated because of warmer temperatures and various environmental factors. As spring temperatures rise, so does pollen production. Allergens are not only surviving longer than they used to – extending the pollen season by up to three weeks in some regions of North America − but they are also reproducing more frequently, which makes allergy symptoms worse for many people, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. How does a 'normal' spring compare with this one? Across the nation, spring approaches to differing degrees. Some areas have seen an earlier start than the long-term average between 1991 to 2020, according to the USA National Phenology Network. In just the week of April 21, spring arrived in Bismarck, North Dakota, three days earlier than normal. It began to slow in the Northeast and northern Midwest. Portland, Maine, is three days later this year. Depending on the region where you live, spring can arrive anywhere from a week late to two weeks earlier in California, Arizona and Nevada. It's one to two weeks late on the Pacific Northwest coast. Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. Where spring temperatures are on the rise The number of unusually warm spring days has increased throughout the United States. On average, springtime temperatures have risen 2.4 degrees in 241 cities in the past 55 years, according to Climate Central. Compared with the 1970s, 4 out of 5 cities are experiencing at least one extra week of warmer-than-normal springtime temperatures. In the southern half of the country, especially in the Southwest, spring has warmed the most. Rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have continued to warm the Earth. Warmer temperatures have led to earlier springs and warmer, shorter winters, which extend growing seasons. The American Public Health Association says that as global average temperatures rise, these trends will continue and make allergies an increasing public health concern. Massive pollen plume rises from fallen tree A tree full of pollen had to be cut down due to construction in Georgia. More: Allergies are bad right now. Here's what you can do about it. Which US cities are the most challenging to live in with seasonal allergies? People with seasonal allergies may find the spring and summer months particularly challenging, especially if you live in an area prone to high pollen counts. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America released its yearly report ranking the nation's top allergy capitals and explores how challenging it is to live with seasonal allergies. The map below shows the top 36 metropolitan cities with the worst overall average of seasonal allergies this year: Is it a cold, COVID-19 or seasonal allergies? It can be tricky to tell the difference between a common cold, the early signs of a COVID-19 infection or seasonal allergies because their symptoms tend to overlap. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 26% of adults and 19% of children in the United States have seasonal allergies. These figures highlight the number of seasonal allergies and the importance of being aware of their symptoms. How seasonal allergies, cold and COVID-19 symptoms compare How to help ease allergy symptoms Check pollen counts. Before heading outside, check the local news or visit the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology's National Allergy Bureau for up-to-date readings. Before heading outside, check the local news or visit the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology's National Allergy Bureau for up-to-date readings. Treat symptoms early. Most medications work best if taken before pollen hits the air. Ask your doctor when you should start treatment; some allergists recommend treatment about two weeks before symptoms typically surface. Most medications work best if taken before pollen hits the air. Ask your doctor when you should start treatment; some allergists recommend treatment about two weeks before symptoms typically surface. Use high-efficiency filters. They can help keep indoor air cleaner by trapping pollen and other allergens if you use forced air conditioning or heating systems. They can help keep indoor air cleaner by trapping pollen and other allergens if you use forced air conditioning or heating systems. Shut the windows. This is good advice for at home and in the car to help keep pollen out. Cool with the air conditioner instead. CONTRIBUTING Jim Sergent SOURCE Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Climate Central, USA National Phenology Network and USA TODAY research
USA Today
23-03-2025
- Climate
- USA Today
Is springtime early or late in your area? Maps track flowers and birds.
Is springtime early or late in your area? Maps track flowers and birds. Show Caption Hide Caption How you can prepare now for spring gardening It might not be time yet to plant in your region, but there's still a lot of preparation that can be done in March. The calendar may say spring is here, but what is nature telling us? Bright new leaves on trees and spring flowers are arriving in waves across the U.S., and the birds are right behind them with early season migrants on the move over the last few weeks. Nationally, spring leaf out continues to spread north across the country, the USA National Phenology Network reported this week. In the eastern half of the country, spring is coming in fits and starts, arriving later than a long-term average in some areas and earlier in others, the Network said. Specifically, the classic signs of spring have been appearing for weeks across the South and are gradually inching northward on a map the Network uses to represent the very beginning of biological activity in the spring. Spring actually arrived a little later than usual in many locations across much of the southern half of the nation, where spring arrives first, said Theresa Crimmins, an associate professor at the University of Arizona and the network's director. 'Only little chunks of the country have had an early season,' she said, while places like Texas and North Florida have spring signals arriving a little later. However, Crimmins expects that to change over the next couple of weeks. They're watching the leading edge of the spring conditions moving northward into Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania, and she said it looks like the more northward locations are ahead of schedule. Spring indicators in southern Nebraska, the southern half of Iowa and creeping into northern Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and southern Pennsylvania, are starting next week and it will be ahead of schedule by a week to two weeks, she said. Leaves are budding out on red maples and silver maples, she said. In addition, sumac species have flower buds, and the lilacs are starting to wake up. At the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, spring blooms are a welcome sight after months of recovery from Hurricane Helene. The gardens are "bursting with color," according to the estate's latest bloom report and the daffodils are "especially brilliant." They're seeing one of the earliest blooming azaleas, the Cornell Pink Rhodendron, put on "a dazzling display." Overall, spring is a great time to get outside, and the center offers activities to get people on the move, Crimmins said. 'Getting outside and looking at plants and animals is good for physical and mental health.' Migrating birds on the move 'At this rather early stage of spring migration – numbers are close to the last 10 years' average,' said Andrew Farnsworth, a migration ecologist at Cornell University's Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The university hosts the BirdCast Migration Dashboard. In recent nocturnal migration metrics, Farnsworth said they've seen about 37 million birds move through Texas and 13-14 million move through Florida. So far the biggest nights across the U.S. have been March 13-14, with about 65 million birds aloft mostly in the upper Mississippi River valley and Midwest. March 17-18 and March 18-19 were also big nights, with "each seeing about 30-40 million birds migrating at night, mostly in the central and eastern U.S.,' he said. Coming soon to a sky near you: 500 million birds Waterfowl are also on the move, he said. 'So people will be seeing lots of geese and ducks moving generally north, as well as the arrival of great egrets and great blue herons,' he said. In Chicago, the last few weeks have been that odd time of year, said Matt Igleski, executive director of the Chicago Bird Alliance. Some birds that spend winters haven't left yet, but other new birds are arriving as they migrate through the region. It seems like this year's migration is arriving 'about on time,' Igleski said. Last week he visited a little forest area and saw his first fox sparrow of the season. On Wednesday, 'I had my first brown-headed cowbird singing outside the office,' he said. 'The red-winged blackbirds also are showing up. When you see those, you know that spring is showing up. We've been seeing them at the backyard feeders.' During a warm spell last week, the area had big pushes of sandhill cranes migrating through, he said. 'In the next few weeks, we'll see Eastern phoebes and golden-crowned kinglets.' See spring's arrival around the country Photo galleries from USA Network newspapers show the earliest spring arrivals in all their glory. Sheboygan, Wisconsin Stockton, California Cape Cod, Massachusetts Wilmington, North Carolina
USA Today
22-03-2025
- Health
- USA Today
Allergy sufferers expected to have worse season than usual: See pollen maps
Allergy sufferers expected to have worse season than usual: See pollen maps For trees and flowers, early spring might be wonderful, but for allergy sufferers, it can be awful. Springtime has arrived two weeks earlier than usual in several Midwest states this year, according to the USA National Phenology Network at the University of Arizona. In the mid-Atlantic and northeast regions, it arrived just over a week ahead of schedule. For those in the western U.S., depending on where you live, spring can arrive anywhere from two weeks earlier to a week later in California, Arizona, and Nevada. According to the Climate Prediction Center, much of the country's southern and eastern regions are expected to experience temperatures far above average, which means an increase in pollen levels due to blossoming trees. That's bad news for people with seasonal allergies ‒ about 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 5 children in the U.S. States where spring sprang earlier than usual The USA National Phenology Network's map below shows the springtime leaf activity earlier than average (in red tones) and later than average (blue tones) this year: According to a recent study by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, eight cities in California saw large increases in their allergy rankings as a result of a "grass and weed pollen explosion," which the foundation says was intensified by heavy rains that year that spurred plant growth. New Orleans also jumped considerably, going from 34th place the previous year to second in 2025. Where are pollen counts at their highest? As warm spring temperatures expand throughout the United States, pollen levels are rising. Pollen counts forecasted on March 20, the first official day of spring: Why does pollen cause allergies? Plants, trees and grass release pollen in the springtime to fertilize other plants of the same species. The powdery particles drift in the air and are easily inhaled. In some people, inhaling pollen causes their immune systems to overreact. The immune system sees the pollen as a danger and releases antibodies that attack the allergens. This leads to the release of histamines into the blood. Histamines trigger runny noses, itchy eyes and other allergy symptoms. How pollen affects your body How to help stop the allergy symptoms Reducing your exposure to pollen allergens and identifying seasonal triggers might help ease your symptoms. You can do the following to decrease your reaction:
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Is springtime early or late in your area? Maps track flowers and birds.
The calendar may say spring is here, but what is nature telling us? Bright new leaves on trees and spring flowers are arriving in waves across the U.S., and the birds are right behind them with early season migrants on the move over the last few weeks. Nationally, spring leaf out continues to spread north across the country, the USA National Phenology Network reported this week. In the eastern half of the country, spring is coming in fits and starts, arriving later than a long-term average in some areas and earlier in others, the Network said. Specifically, the classic signs of spring have been appearing for weeks across the South and are gradually inching northward on a map the Network uses to represent the very beginning of biological activity in the spring. Spring actually arrived a little later than usual in many locations across much of the southern half of the nation, where spring arrives first, said Theresa Crimmins, an associate professor at the University of Arizona and the network's director. 'Only little chunks of the country have had an early season,' she said, while places like Texas and North Florida have spring signals arriving a little later. However, Crimmins expects that to change over the next couple of weeks. They're watching the leading edge of the spring conditions moving northward into Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania, and she said it looks like the more northward locations are ahead of schedule. Spring indicators in southern Nebraska, the southern half of Iowa and creeping into northern Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and southern Pennsylvania, are starting next week and it will be ahead of schedule by a week to two weeks, she said. Leaves are budding out on red maples and silver maples, she said. In addition, sumac species have flower buds, and the lilacs are starting to wake up. At the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, spring blooms are a welcome sight after months of recovery from Hurricane Helene. The gardens are "bursting with color," according to the estate's latest bloom report and the daffodils are "especially brilliant." They're seeing one of the earliest blooming azaleas, the Cornell Pink Rhodendron, put on "a dazzling display." Overall, spring is a great time to get outside, and the center offers activities to get people on the move, Crimmins said. 'Getting outside and looking at plants and animals is good for physical and mental health.' 'At this rather early stage of spring migration – numbers are close to the last 10 years' average,' said Andrew Farnsworth, a migration ecologist at Cornell University's Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The university hosts the BirdCast Migration Dashboard. In recent nocturnal migration metrics, Farnsworth said they've seen about 37 million birds move through Texas and 13-14 million move through Florida. So far the biggest nights across the U.S. have been March 13-14, with about 65 million birds aloft mostly in the upper Mississippi River valley and Midwest. March 17-18 and March 18-19 were also big nights, with "each seeing about 30-40 million birds migrating at night, mostly in the central and eastern U.S.,' he said. Coming soon to a sky near you: 500 million birds Waterfowl are also on the move, he said. 'So people will be seeing lots of geese and ducks moving generally north, as well as the arrival of great egrets and great blue herons,' he said. In Chicago, the last few weeks have been that odd time of year, said Matt Igleski, executive director of the Chicago Bird Alliance. Some birds that spend winters haven't left yet, but other new birds are arriving as they migrate through the region. It seems like this year's migration is arriving 'about on time,' Igleski said. Last week he visited a little forest area and saw his first fox sparrow of the season. On Wednesday, 'I had my first brown-headed cowbird singing outside the office,' he said. 'The red-winged blackbirds also are showing up. When you see those, you know that spring is showing up. We've been seeing them at the backyard feeders.' During a warm spell last week, the area had big pushes of sandhill cranes migrating through, he said. 'In the next few weeks, we'll see Eastern phoebes and golden-crowned kinglets.' Photo galleries from USA Network newspapers show the earliest spring arrivals in all their glory. Sheboygan, Wisconsin Stockton, California Cape Cod, Massachusetts Wilmington, North Carolina This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Early or late spring? Maps track flowers and birds.
New York Times
12-03-2025
- Science
- New York Times
Is It Spring Yet?
I'm micro-dosing my way through this wintry moment in American history, with the simple act of looking closely for each tiny hint of spring-to-be as my drug of choice. The nature-infused prescription was laid out for me in the new book 'Phenology' by Theresa Crimmins, a primer on the why and how of taking sharper notice of what happens when. 'I invite you to weave a practice of observing seasonal cycles of plants and animals into your life to contribute to science as well as soothe your soul,' writes Dr. Crimmins, director of the USA National Phenology Network, a plant ecologist and an associate professor at the University of Arizona, where the network is based. Her ask: Become an 'everyday phenologist.' After a focused look around outside at particular plants, sign in to the network's community science app, Nature's Notebook, and answer some questions about what you just saw. I could easily get hooked on missions like going to check for signs of life in the beds of ferns and bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), or among the branches of the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) or pussy willow (Salix discolor). Both the soothing part and the idea of making a contribution feel right just now. Phenology — from the same root as phenomenon — is about the timing of recurring seasonal events in plants and animals, 'timing that is a function of environmental conditions,' Dr. Crimmins said in a recent conversation. These events don't happen on the same date each year; the variables exerting the strongest influence on their timing, especially in plants, are temperature, day length, and moisture. As gardeners, our biggest question about timing right now is probably pretty straightforward, though: Is it spring yet? The calendar insists that the new season arrives in the Northern Hemisphere precisely on March 20. Instead we can piece together a more textured sense of its start from real-time clues: the first shoots poking through the soil surface, perhaps, or leaf buds swelling and gradually opening. Is the shadbush (Amelanchier) — always one of the first bloomers — awake yet, or have the magnolias' furry bud scales parted to make way for the blooms? Was it spring when the Eastern chipmunks, absent since late fall, were suddenly scurrying around in numbers the last week of February? Or will it not truly arrive until the first peeper peeps, or I see a mourning cloak butterfly on the wing — a species that overwinters as an adult even here in my Northern zone, hence its early flight? It feels as if each organism has its own answer — or maybe more accurately, holds a tiny but essential clue to the vast, intricately connected puzzle. Tuning into phenology is an exercise in attention — specifically in learning to catch the moments of transition in plants and animals, to discern one phenophase from the next, from the first leaf bud starting to burst open to the last leaf to drop in autumn. But even with plant species I have long grown, do I really know how to read their signals? In December, the network's website published its 240-page, lavishly illustrated 'Phenophase Primer' focused on the life stages of flowering plants, to help observers differentiate each subtle phase in their seasonal cycles, including flower development, from bud break to open flowers and pollen release right through fruiting. Even deciphering what exactly an open flower is can be bewildering. 'In some species, like a tulip, it's very obvious,' Dr. Crimmins said. 'But in a lot of others, like maples, it's not so clear. You might not even know there are flowers on a maple tree, for example. And so this document is just super detailed.' Take the red maple (Acer rubrum), a species native to the Eastern and Central United States, which flowers before its leaf buds break. The trees are polygamodioecious, Dr. Crimmins said, meaning that some trees bear only male flowers and therefore produce no seeds, some trees bear only female flowers, and some are monoecious, bearing both. And apparently individuals can change year to year. 'Some of our observers in Maine have reported that individual trees are monoecious one year and entirely female in other years,' she added. Any day now, I plan to get better acquainted with the one growing here. Repeat Observations on the Same Plant With most of the familiar community-science apps, we are simply asked to record a sighting. The network's process of sharing is a bit more rigorous, because it seeks not just a species' presence but its phenological status — trying to get at the 'when' of each unfolding stage. Some 2,000 species are in the network's database as candidates to be formally observed, 80 percent of them plants. What's sought are repeat observations on the same individual specimens, so a user must name the individuals they intend to observe ('backyard purple lilac,' or 'front yard mayapple'), enter them into their account, then answer a series of structured, species-specific questions every time they check on one. How to make observations is one topic that will be covered in a series of virtual events the network is hosting to celebrate National Phenology Week March 17-21. The network's phenological records are the modern-day Western science application of a practice of keen observation that Indigenous cultures worldwide have relied on throughout history. Among farmers and gardeners, inferences about connections made from such observations have likewise been drawn, yielding bits of folk wisdom — Dr. Crimmins calls them adages — like to plant peas when the peepers peep, sow corn when the oak leaves are the size of a squirrel's ear, or prune roses when the Forsythia blooms. More than 40 million records have been submitted since 2009 to Nature's Notebook, data that can be put to many uses. The observations add up to a leading indicator of climate change, and get at the existential question around each plant and animal species: Can it adapt, or will it perish? And will longtime partners in nature adapt in tandem? 'Interactions between species are at risk of disruption when their seasonal events are cued by different environmental drivers,' Dr. Crimmins writes. Many plants respond to warmth, but many insects become active according to day length. These mismatches can be hard on both: no food for the one, and no pollination services for the other. Though the pollen season has extended by more than 20 days since 1990, that doesn't translate to more opportunities for pollinators to gather resources and provide pollination services. The data show some intimate synchronicities increasingly at risk of becoming costly mismatches, Dr. Crimmins explains. The records also provided insights for a 2020 Penn State study into an edge invasive species in the East hold over native plants, for example. The invasives leaf out earlier and may hold their leaves longer, adding as much as 30 days' active growing time (in the northern end of the study area) to 77 days at the southern extreme. And then there are happy stories, too, of species 'shifting their phenologies in tandem,' Dr. Crimmins writes, recounting observations by the pioneering conservationist Aldo Leopold, author of the 1949 book 'A Sand County Almanac.' Between 1935 and 1945, he noted that Eastern phoebes would arrive back in southern Wisconsin about a week after the early-to-arise native Eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) started blooming. The plant's foul-smelling flowers attracted insects that the returning phoebes happily devoured. This duet can still be witnessed today, though earlier than in Mr. Leopold's time. Watching Spring Roll Up the Country So when is it spring, anyhow? The network's records can help forecast its timing, and a popular website feature displays animated maps showing the gradual arrival rolling up the country, week by week. The maps indicate when different locations have experienced enough warmth to achieve conditions associated with spring's historical start — both leafing out, and the earliest blooms. In her Tucson yard, Dr. Crimmins is gathering clues on spring's progress as she makes her focused passes twice-weekly through the space, adding fresh observations into the app, and deepening her knowledge, too. 'I have a strong biology background and I think I know what's going on,' she said. 'But I have witnessed so much more incredible detail unfolding right in my midst, and learned a much deeper appreciation for these different organisms and what they do.' Observations that indicate the co-occurrence of animals and what they are doing in relation to plants always feel like a bonus round. A female broad-billed hummingbird chose Dr. Crimmins's back porch as its nest site three recent years running, darting to sip at the nearby yellow bells (Tecoma stans). Even absent 'mama hummingbird' some days, though, the scene is one of bounty. 'Seeing that progression, it's always surprise and delight, to discover what has happened since the last time I peeked,' she said. 'It's kind of reassuring to see everything goes on, even though we're not paying attention. And so when we do pay attention, there's a lot of gifts for us to receive.'
