Swimming in the lake or picking garden vegetables later into the summer stand out as benefits of the warming climate, but not for children with asthma or those susceptible to seasonal allergies.
Since 1970, allergy season in 138 U.S. cities has expanded by at least seven days, including in Portland and Presque Isle, according to an analysis released Wednesday by Climate Central, a science and journalism nonprofit. That means children who are still developing will experience longer and more intense exposure to seasonal allergens, driving up discomfort and emergency department visits.
Nearly one in five U.S. children suffers from seasonal allergies, and almost 9 percent suffer from asthma. In Maine, some 18,000 children 18 and younger suffer from asthma, or about 9 percent of that population, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. An increasing contributor is the carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, which makes plants produce more pollen, warms the planet and extends the growing and allergy seasons.
“It not only impacts respiratory and cardiovascular health, but the overall health of all of us,” said Dr. Anne Coates, a pediatric pulmonologist at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland, which is part of MaineHealth. “Educating yourself about the environment in general and how that may potentially impact your house or your child’s health is really important.”
Climate change is responsible for about half of the increase in pollen seasons and about 8 percent of the increase in pollen concentrations, according to a recent report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. A warming of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit could increase asthma-related emergency department visits nationwide by about 5,800 annually, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report in 2023 on climate change and children’s health.
Coates said climate change can lead to uncontrolled asthma or heart attacks, increased hospitalization and even death. Parents need to recognize allergy symptoms such as a runny nose and nasal congestion early because it can be difficult to distinguish them from a viral infection, which may be accompanied by a fever.
Family history and childhood respiratory infections are among the major causes of asthma in which the airways narrow and swell. The severity of symptoms — including difficulty breathing, coughing or wheezing — vary depending on the person.
Maine has been known as the tailpipe of the nation, in part because of the upwind air pollution from northeastern cities and the midwestern coal plants that blow here, Coates said. But she has noticed a rise in the number of families who contact her concerned about different allergens and air pollutants since she started in her field in 2013.
Allergy season is arriving sooner in the spring and lasts longer into the fall because of the warming climate, according to Climate Central. The “freeze-free” season between the last and first freeze has lengthened by 15 days in Portland since 1970, about the same as the national average. Presque Isle saw a 12-day increase, it found.
“What is new is the number of people that are being affected, the time periods that we’re seeing the effect play out and the severity of the symptoms that we’re seeing,” said Dr. Lisa Patel, clinical associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford Medicine Children’s Hospital in Pleasanton, California. “Seasonal allergies have always been around, but because of climate change we’re seeing longer pollen seasons and more intense release of pollens that are increasing the number of cases and their severity.”
Recognizing the increasing effect on people, the EPA in February revised its clean air standard for particulate matter in the air that also can aggravate breathing. It was reduced from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9 micrograms per cubic meter, with the new level expected by the agency to prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays by 2032. Patel would have liked to see a more stringent standard but said the decrease is a “big step forward.”
Maine’s summertime particle pollution values can rise if a dirty air mass from elsewhere in the country moves across the state, according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. But the particle pollution emissions have dropped in recent years.
The EPA also improved public information about health risks in its Air Quality Index, including a web-accessible tool, AirNow.gov, that shows current air quality by zip code. It can help people decide whether to go outside if the air quality is too poor.
Children are especially sensitive to changes in the climate because they spend more time outdoors, and they are still developing. Reliant on adult caregivers, they also have less control over their surrounding environments and less understanding of health risks.
“We don’t have a cure for asthma, but we certainly have the understanding of ways to control it and minimize the severity of asthma and allergies,” Coates said.
Over-the-counter nasal steroid sprays offer some relief, as do keeping home and car windows closed on heavy pollen days, using air conditioning and taking a shower immediately after coming inside from time outdoors. For those who cannot afford an air purifier, the EPA offers online instructions for an inexpensive, temporary, do-it-yourself filter using an air filter, box fan and duct tape. Limiting exposure to mold, second-hand smoke and pet hair also can help.
It is important for people to think more consciously about the links between how their external world is changed and their health, Patel said.
“They need to understand that this is the tip of the iceberg unless we get off of fossil fuel pollution,” she said. “If we don’t, we can expect that these types of health effects stand to grow worse, and substantially so.”
For more information on how to cope with the effects of climate change on health, visit the U.S. CDC’s asthma action plan website and the Maine CDC’s self-management program.
Lori Valigra is an investigative environment reporter for the BDN’s Maine Focus team. She may be reached at [email protected]. Support for this reporting is provided by the Unity Foundation and donations by BDN readers.
