Massachusetts Spring Allergies Expected to Continue to Worsen

If you live in Massachusetts and suffer from allergies, the Spring season can be one of the worst times of the year.

Massachusetts residents, along with the rest of their New England neighbors, deal with uncomfortable symptoms like a runny nose, itchy eyes, and general annoyance. It's simply par for the course starting in late March and through the rest of the season. However, if you live in Massachusetts and you've found yourself saying, "Man, my allergies have been worse than ever this year," you're not wrong.

Allergy seasons are starting earlier and lasting longer as climate change drives up average temperatures across the United States.

In Massachusetts, spring temperatures have risen by approximately 2.5 degrees over the past few centuries, leading to earlier thaws and fewer frosts, which can contribute two longer, earlier, peaks of things like tree pollen in the spring, grass in the summer, and ragweed in the fall. These factors can make life difficult for allergy sufferers and asthmatics alike.

In addition to raising temperatures, studies show that heat-trapping pollution from the burning of coal, oil, and methane gas contributes to the extended allergy season, specifically Carbon dioxide and it's effects on the way plants produce pollen.

So if you've noticed your allergies or asthma gradually getting worse each year, it's not in your head.