Climate Change and the Future of Allergies and Asthma
admin March 28, 2025

Climate Change and the Future of Allergies and Asthma


Review


doi: 10.1007/s11882-025-01201-0.

Affiliations

Item in Clipboard

Review

Allison J Burbank.


Curr Allergy Asthma Rep.


.

Abstract


Purpose of this review:

Climate change affects global temperature, meteorological variables, plant aerobiology, air pollution exposure and a host of other factors that individually have been implicated in the inception and/or exacerbation of allergic disease like asthma and allergic rhinitis. It is unknown how climate change will impact allergic disease prevalence and morbidity in the future.


Recent findings:

Pollen seasons are lengthening with variable effects on pollen peak concentrations and allergenicity. Air pollution exposure is linked with enhance susceptibility to allergic inflammation induced by pollen and with enhanced susceptibility to infection with a morbidity/mortality from respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. The available literature largely supports the association between climate change and three of the most salient factors for allergic respiratory disease prevalence and morbidity: changes in allergen exposure, pollution exposure, and viral respiratory infection. More research is needed to understand the complex interactions between these factors and individual-level variables that influence disease susceptibility.


Keywords:

Aeroallergen; Air pollution; Climate change; Respiratory virus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Human and Animal Rights: This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. Ziska L, Knowlton K, Rogers C, Dalan D, Tierney N, Elder MA, Filley W, Shropshire J, Ford LB, Hedberg C, Fleetwood P, Hovanky KT, Kavanaugh T, Fulford G, Vrtis RF, Patz JA, Portnoy J, Coates F, Bielory L, Frenz D. Recent warming by latitude associated with increased length of ragweed pollen season in central North America. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011;108:4248–51.

      PubMed

      PMC

    1. Paudel B, Chu T, Chen M, Sampath V, Prunicki M, Nadeau KC. Increased duration of pollen and mold exposure are linked to climate change. Sci Rep. 2021;11:12816.

      PubMed

      PMC

    1. Ariano R, Canonica GW, Passalacqua G. Possible role of climate changes in variations in pollen seasons and allergic sensitizations during 27 years. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2010;104:215–22.

      PubMed

    1. Emberlin J, Detandt M, Gehrig R, Jaeger S, Nolard N, Rantio-Lehtimaki A. Responses in the start of betula (birch) pollen seasons to recent changes in spring temperatures across Europe. Int J Biometeorol. 2002;46:159–70.

      PubMed

    1. Frei T. Climate change in Switzerland: impact on Hazel, Birch, and grass pollen on the basis of half a century of pollen records (1969–2018). Allergol Select. 2020;4:69–75.

      PubMed

      PMC

MeSH terms

CONTENT CREDIT

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *