According to an article made by Accuweather last year, the Eastern United States experienced the worst allergy season ever recorded, and the year before that was pretty bad already. There is no sign that things will get better, especially with satirists already calling allergy season “pollen tsunami.”
One key factor behind an increase in people with allergies is climate change. This affects the concentration of pollen in the air, which can cause a prolonged allergy season. In other parts of the world like tropical countries where allergy season does not have the usual Spring marker, their allergies manifest every time there is an abrupt change in weather. This is why you notice that you or a friend gets nasal problems when the weather transitions from sunny and hot to cold and wet.
Let us dive into how the world has suddenly become quite allergic and the possible ways we can change things for our health.
A Foggy Feeling
If you find yourself bored in an airport while waiting for your flight, pass the time by checking how many people around you are wearing face masks. You would be surprised by the amount of people wearing them that it may actually be faster to count those who are not wearing one.
This is what the world has come to now. In 2017, the market value of face masks in the Asia Pacific region alone amounted to about 5.28 billion U.S. dollars. Travelling nowadays with a face mask is a necessity and is almost unimaginable especially because the more progressive countries and major tourist destinations actually have the most polluted air.
A Sneeze and a Cough Away
You would also often encounter that one or two people in your workplace who can never seem to stop sneezing. You would know because you’ve probably seen her dustbin often lined with used up tissues and discarded tissue packets.
One of three people that you probably know has allergic rhinitis and other types of immunity deficiency. Allergies these days are no longer hereditary or congenital. In most cases, the manifestations of these allergies are at various life stages and the root cause can be harder to pinpoint. This also explains why healthcare packages and doctors’ professional fees have continuously skyrocketed in the past years due to increasing medical ailments on such cases.
But we all know what the main culprit is – Aggressive urbanization. Mankind has relentlessly drank the earth’s resources beyond the bottom of its glass and it is fighting back.
A Call for Change
What used to be an abundance of cleaner air is now close to scarcity. We now start to use technology to get the cleaner air we need. Plants create the majority of the oxygen we breathe through a process called photosynthesis, but with aggressive urbanization, what was once a thick forest is now a high-rise condominium complex. What was once a lush mountain range is now an expanse of concrete roads and gated subdivisions.
Change can start from within. One person’s action can ripple into a more conscientious society. Be more responsible with your waste and go green. Let’s provide a cleaner air for the future generations ahead.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
