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Hay fever got you down? Better keep a stockpile of Claritin, because it's only going to get worse. A study from the University of Massachusetts took a look at the future of pollen in our air, and what they found was nothing to sneeze at.
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Researchers grew Timothy grass, which is a major culprit for hay fever, in special reactor chambers and exposed them to different types of gas. They found that plants exposed to a concentration of carbon dioxide projected to be in the air in 100 years grew more, and thus produced a lot more pollen.
Scientists say the amount of carbon dioxide in our air is only going to rise, because of emissions from cars, planes and factories. And since plants feed off carbon dioxide, they're going to keep growing and growing, and making more pollen. The study, which was published in PLOS ONE, projects that pollen levels could triple in the next 100 years.
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Environmentalists are already pushing for lower carbon emissions. But now maybe allergy sufferers can join their cause – if they can get over their stuffy noses first.
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