Chalk this up as another attempt by the mainstream media to sway public sentiment toward global warming hysteria.
According to a report on ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” September 8, climate change is making your allergies worse.
“In health news, from watery eyes to runny noses to itchy throats, a lot of people are miserable right now,” anchor Charles Gibson said. “This is the peak of ragweed season. This year appears to be worse than ever. Fifty million Americans suffer from ragweed allergy. Experts say symptoms are getting worse and lasting longer and they’re offering a reason why.”
ABC correspondent Gigi Stone said there’s “something in the air. Millions of people can sense it and it is making them sick. Now some scientists say they know why: the planet is getting warmer, which is making weeds grow faster and causing them to produce more pollen and that’s making allergies and asthma worse.”
Stone cited a study in the September issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology – a journal for “clinical allergists, immunologists, dermatologists, internists, and other physicians concerned with clinical manifestations of allergies in their practice,” but not climatologists.
However, according to Dr. Lewis Ziska, a weed ecologist at the Department of Agriculture, it’s not just the higher temperatures causing the ragweed growth – it’s also carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
“As carbon dioxide is increasing in the atmosphere and as temperatures are going up, ragweed shows a very strong response to that change,” Ziska said.
Ragweed isn’t the only assailant global warming alarmists warn will be more dangerous thanks to climate change. An August 2 article in Newsweek magazine [1] – which cited Ziska – predicted more tree pollen in spring, more bee stings and more fungal spores.
Last year, NBC’s chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman made a similar claim. She suggested food allergies were also increasing because of global warming.
“Even global warming may play a role,” Snyderman said on NBC’s Oct. 25, 2007 “Today.” [2] “New plants are moving into areas they weren't before, and this fall has been so warm. So, ragweeds and grasses are in the air and they interact. The allergies you inhale may in fact have an impact on the foods you eat. So, it becomes very intertwined.”