Texans among those suffering with longer allergy season

Allergy season is getting longer, stronger and more severe in cities nationwide, especially in one Texas metropolitan area where higher pollen counts have added weeks of stuffiness and sneezing over the past several decades.

As the planet gets warmer and winters milder, plants have more time to release allergy-inducing pollen. A recent study from Climate Central, a national nonprofit comprising scientists and journalists, examined data from 197 cities to determine the impact of climate change on allergies.

The study found that allergy season has grown longer in 164 cities since 1970. While the freeze-free growing season lengthened by an average of 19 days, one Texas city saw a much bigger jump.

El Paso added 47 days to its allergy season, the study found. The eighth-largest increase analyzed by researchers, it is the only place in Texas to surpass the average — and with a significant margin.

That’s not to say the rest of the Lone Star State has stayed the same since 1970.

Climate change has contributed to an additional 17 days of symptoms for people living in Dallas, Fort Worth and Sherman. Tyler has added 15 days to its allergy season, Odessa 11 days, Wichita Falls 10 and Amarillo 8. Abilene and Sweetwater have five more days of hay fever and other springtime ailments.

That’s nothing compared to Reno, Nev., which topped the list with a growth of 95 days, followed by Las Cruces, N.M., with 65 more days; Medford, Ore., with 65 more; Boise, Idaho, with 51 more; and Tupelo, Mississippi with 50 more. San Antonio has no documented change in its allergy season, but don’t let that fool you. It is still among the most challenging places to live with seasonal allergies, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

About one-quarter of adults and 1 in 5 children in the United States suffer with seasonal allergies.

Pollen is also a trigger for asthma, which affects 6.5% of children in the U.S., according to the foundation.

There are numerous ways you can protect your children’s health during allergy season, including by checking local air quality reports and allergen forecasts before heading outside, limiting time outdoors for kids with allergies or asthma when pollen concentrations are high, and making the indoors safer by closing windows and doors and using high-efficiency particulate air filters in living spaces and bedrooms.

To check local allergen counts and forecasts, visit the National Allergy Bureau.