More Allergy Time
Mar 21st, 2008 at 11:18 am by Susie
Yep. I noticed people are already sneezing and complaining about itchy eyes:
Washington, D.C.’s famous cherry trees are primed to burst in a perfect pink peak about the end of this month. Thirty years ago, the trees usually waited to bloom until around April 5.
In central California, the first of the field skipper sachem, drab little butterflies, was fluttering about on March 12. Just 25 years ago, that creature predictably emerged there anywhere from mid-April to mid-May.
And sneezes are coming earlier in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On March 9, when allergist Donald Dvorin set up his monitor, maple pollen was already heavy in the air. Less than two decades ago, that pollen couldn’t be measured until late April.
For biologists, these trends are a worrying sign of the ominous effects of global warming.
