Spring has arrived, and that means sunshine, warmth and flowers growing. Many people enjoy this time of year, but their are some negative aspects. This is the time of year when plants pollinate, and that can mean allergy problems for more than sixty million americans that have pollen allergies, and this years east coast pollens count are higher than they’ve been in decades.
The pollen count is a method of measuring the concentration of pollen in the air. It is recorded by placing a sticky sheet of paper on top of a building or high surface, ad counting the number of pollen grains attached to the paper after a period of usually twenty four hours. It is measured in grains of pollen per square meter.
It may come as a surprise to some people that this years pollen counts are so high given how cold this winter was. Actually, this cold winter is the reason for the high amount of pollen. Plants can’t pollinate in sub forty degree temperatures, so the couldn’t pollinate until the weather got warm. Ounce it finally did, they pollinated rapidly all at once, creating a large amount of pollen in the air.
Pollen allergies can be annoying and harmful to people. Many people with allergies experience symptoms such as congestion, nasal swelling, and difficulty breathing. Pollen can also cause irritation when it gets into peoples eyes. The avoid exposure to pollen ,it is recommended that try to keep it away from them as best as possible. Showering after exposure to pollen will remove pollen from the body, and changing out of pollen covered clothes also helps. Washing hands frequently and keeping pollen away from the face helps to reduce these allergy induced irritations.
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