No, Axios, Climate Change Is Not Making Atlanta’s Allergy Season Worse
By
Heartland Institute
March 11, 2025
By Anthony Watts and Sterling Burnett
Axios Atlanta recently published an article titled “Pollen season in Atlanta is getting worse, thanks to climate change,” claiming that rising temperatures caused by climate change are making allergy season more severe. Axios’ article is misleading at best, and misses a larger point. Data and historical trends indicate that while pollen levels fluctuate, factors like urbanization and land use changes—particularly the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect—are far more significant contributors to Atlanta’s pollen patterns than their so-called local climate change.
“A warming climate means that allergy season is starting earlier and lasting longer,” write Kristal Dixon and Alex Fitzpatrick for Axios. “Longer, warmer growing seasons are leading to earlier pollen releases and higher overall pollen levels.”
Dixon and Fitzpatrick ignore several key facts in their attempt to connect long-term climate change to longer allergy seasons. For example, Atlanta’s well-documented Urban Heat Island effect—caused by dense infrastructure, concrete, and asphalt trapping heat—plays a much larger role in local temperature trends than any global warming influence. The city has expanded significantly over the last few decades, increasing localized temperatures and extending the growing season for plants.
https://climaterealism.com/2025/03/no-axios-climate-change-is-not-making-atlantas-allergy-season-worse/
