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Climate change is making allergy season worse

The pollen-ocalypse is coming.

Allergy season is upon us once again. And if it seems as though your allergies are getting worse year after year, it’s not just your imagination.

Pollen is a fine powder produced as part of the sexual reproductive cycle of many varieties of plants. It is also the culprit behind the seasonal allergies that one in five Americans suffers from.

As climate change warms the planet, pollen season is not only getting more intense, it’s getting longer. What’s more, pollen is becoming more potent for allergic people. This is a problem — whether you suffer from seasonal allergies or not.

Check out the video above to find out what effects rising temperatures have on pollen production and how pollen season is changing in your city.

You can find this video and all of Vox’s videos on YouTube. And if you’re interested in supporting our video journalism, you can become a member of the Vox Video Lab on YouTube.

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