NRDC: Sneezing and Wheezing

In this Section

Issues: Global Warming

Popular Tags [ View All Tags ]:: causes; consequences; solutions; what you can do; wildlife; energy efficiency; renewable energy; global warming and health; global warming legislation

All Tags [ View Popular Tags ]:: global warming and the economy; AB 1493; ab 32; ACES; agriculture; air pollution; Alaska; allergies; American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009; Appalachia; Arctic; Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; asthma; automakers; bibliography; biofuels; California; cap 2.0; cap and trade; carb; carbon capture and storage; carbon offsets; caribou; cars; causes; china; cites; Clean Air Act; clean energy; climate change; climate legislation; Climate Security Act; coal; coal-fired power plants; Congress; consequences; coral; dirty fuels; drilling; drought; economy; electric utilities; Elizabeth Kolbert; energy; energy efficiency; energy policy; energy security; EPA; ethanol; fish & fishing; flooding; floods; florida; food; fuel; fuel savings; Gary Braasch; gas prices; global warming and health; global warming and the economy; global warming emissions; global warming legislation; green buildings; green jobs; growing green awards; habitat loss; health; health effects of pollution; heat waves; hurricanes; hybrid; hybrid vehicles; hydrogen; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; International; international agreements; interviews; IPCC; legislation; liquid coal; livestock; maps; marine conservation; Massachussetts v EPA; McKinsey; melting ice and glaciers; Montreal Protocol; mountaintop removal mining; national parks; natural gas; new energy economy; nitrogen oxides; nuclear energy; ocean acidification; ocean pollution; oil; oil shale; ozone; photos; polar bears; policy; power plants; public transportation; renewable energy; renewable energy/clean energy; respiratory illness; Rocky Mountains; salmon; science; sea-level rise; smart growth; solutions; species protection; sprawl; storms; sulfur dioxide; Supreme Court; tar sands; tennessee; testimony; tourism; toxic waste; transportation; trout; U.S.; vehicles; water supply; weather; Western Arctic; what you can do; Wilderness Preservation; wildfires; wildlife; Yellowstone

Sneezing and Wheezing

How Global Warming Could Increase Ragweed Allergies, Air Pollution and Asthma

Global warming isn't just making our planet hotter. Scientific studies have also shown that our changing climate could mean more ozone pollution in some areas and intensify the health problems stemming from allergenic pollen such as ragweed. This is bad news for allergy sufferers and asthmatics because both ragweed and ozone have been linked to respiratory problems such as asthma and to allergic symptoms in adults and children -- and studies show that people exposed to both ragweed and ozone are likely to become sicker than people exposed to just one of these pollutants. New NRDC research -- the first to map areas within the United States where ragweed and unhealthy ozone pollution overlap -- shows that 110 million Americans live in areas with both ragweed and ozone problems.

Download a 1.2 MB pdf of the map and
zoom in to see your county and state.

OVERVIEW & QUICK REFERENCE
Press release
Fact sheet (400 KB pdf)
Map of Ozone and Ragweed Occurrence in the Continental United States (1.2 MB pdf)

FULL REPORT IN PDF
Adobe Acrobat file (size: 4 MB)
Click here if you need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader (free)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary
Ozone and Ragweed: Health Threats Likely to Worsen with Global Warming
Recommendations
Appendix A: Methodology Used in Mapping Ragweed and Ozone
Endnotes

last revised 10/15/2007