VOA慢速英语2021--全球变暖导致花粉季节提前

Global Warming Causes Earlier Pollen¹ Season

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

When Dr. Stanley Fineman started as an allergist, he told patients to start taking medications and prepare for pollen season in the middle of March.

That was about 40 years ago. Today, he tells them to start around the middle of February.

Since 1990, pollen season across the United States and Canada has been starting earlier, about 20 days earlier. And pollen loads, the amount of pollen released by plants, are 21 percent higher.

The main reason for this, a new study found, is global warming.

Other studies have shown North America's allergy² season getting longer and worse. But this one, published in the Proceedings³ of the National Academies of Sciences, has the most complete information coming from 60 reporting stations. It is also the first study to make scientific connections between an earlier and more intense pollen season with human-caused climate change.

The study says the warmer the Earth gets, the earlier spring starts for animals and plants, especially plants that release pollen. Additionally, trees and plants produce more pollen when they get carbon dioxide.

FILE - A pedestrian⁴ walks down a street as pollen litters the sidewalk outside the State Capitol Tuesday, March 20, 2012, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

FILE - A pedestrian walks down a street as pollen litters the sidewalk outside the State Capitol Tuesday, March 20, 2012, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Bill Anderegg is the lead writer of the study. He said, "climate change is here and it's in every breath we take." The University of Utah scientist told the Associated Press (AP), "This is clearly warming temperatures and more carbon dioxide putting more pollen in the air."

Scientists are not sure why trees are giving off the allergy-causing particles earlier than grasses. But Anderegg said just look at cherry blossoms⁵ opening earlier in Japan and Washington, D.C. as an example.

Scientists involved in the study also considered that parks and cities were getting greener. They also compared what is happening now in our environment to computer models of an Earth without human-caused warming and rising carbon dioxide in the air.

Since 1990, about half of the earlier pollen season was linked to climate change — mostly from warmer temperatures. But plant-feeding carbon dioxide, Anderegg said, played a part.

However, since the 2000s, he said, about 65 percent of early pollen seasons can be blamed on warming. And about 8 percent of the increased pollen load can be blamed on climate change.

Chris Downs of St. Louis, Missouri does not need a study to show that he already has problems with breathing, headaches, and red itchy eyes. His allergies⁶ usually hit in March. But the last two years, they came in early February, along with blooms of trees and flowers.

"As a kid I never saw anything start blooming in February," Downs said, "Now I see a handful of years like that."

For Amir Sapkota, this is not just a matter of sneezing and watery⁷ eyes. There are more serious health concerns. The University of Maryland scientist said the pollen is a risk for other diseases including asthma⁸.

She told the AP, "Asthma costs the U.S. economy an estimated $80 billion per year in terms of treatment and loss of productivity⁹." So, a longer pollen season is a threat to both "individuals suffering from allergies as well as the U.S. economy."

There are other problems as well. Sapkota recently found a connection between earlier spring allergies and an increased risk in asthma hospitalizations. Another study, Anderegg said, found that students do worse on tests because of pollen levels.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has some advice on how to protect yourself against pollen:

Take your allergy and/or asthma medications as advised by your health care provider.

Do not touch your eyes while you are outside.

Wash after being outside to remove pollen from your skin and hair.

Change your clothes after being outdoors.

Keep windows closed during pollen season.

Words in This Story

allergy – n. a medical condition that causes someone to become sick after eating, touching¹⁰, or breathing something that is harmless to most people

allergist – n. a specialist in allergy

pollen – n. the very fine usually yellow dust that is produced by a plant and that is carried to other plants of the same kind usually by wind or insects so that the plants can produce seeds

carbon dioxide – n. a gas that is produced when people and animals breathe out or when certain fuels are burned and that is used by plants for energy

bloom – n. the flowering state

sneeze – v. to suddenly force air out through your nose and mouth with a usually loud noise because your body is reacting to dust, a sickness, etc.

asthma – n. medical : a physical condition that makes it difficult for someone to breathe

1 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

2 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

3 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

4 pedestrian   

n.行人，步行者；adj.徒步的，呆板的，通俗的

参考例句：

• The criminal pushed a pedestrian down and ran away.罪犯推倒了一个行人逃跑了。
• The city built a pedestrian overpass over the highway.城里在公路上建了一座过街天桥。

5 blossoms   

n.（尤指果树的）花( blossom的名词复数 )；花丛，花簇v.（植物）开花( blossom的第三人称单数 )；发展；长成；变得更加健康（或自信、成功）

参考例句：

• It was springtime and the slopes were ablaze with almond blossoms. 时当春季，怒放的扁桃花使那片山坡鲜红似火。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The spring comes and peach blossoms [flowers] are all open. 春天了，桃花都开了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

7 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

8 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

9 productivity   

n.生产力，生产率，多产

参考例句：

• Farmers are introducing in novations which increase the productivity.农民们正引进提高生产力的新方法。
• The workers try to put up productivity.工人设法提高生产率。

10 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。