{now officially dying... and I can blame global warming?}

Every year, about October, I get sick... Then sicker... Then sicker some more. I've been worried these last few months as it's my first year working DURING this month. And as luck would have it, my work involves me being outside and I'm booked solid.

Stupid allergies!

Critter tells me every year that my complaints sound more like a cold. And then, after weeks go by and he's truly tired of my moping and complaining, he hassles me until I go to a doctor. And this always proves to be somewhat of a broken record.

"It's allergies. That'll be $20. Go home."
"It's a virus. That'll be $20. go home".
"Stay inside. Take a pill. That'll be $20. Go home."

Well I DO take pills. Every day in fact, for at least 75% of the year. And in true allergy seasons, I sometimes have to double them up. My true worry is that I take advil every 4 hours... for months on end. This can't be good. But I just can't function with the super sore muscles and extreme headaches.

Last year, some may remember, I got an actual allergy/asthma pill, that as it turns out, was evil and sadistic. I had serious anxiety attacks and scary heart palpitations. Yah, nice right?



So here it is, Oct 10th, and I'm officially dying. I always start stalking the allergy charts when I feel it coming on. I then start cursing the hill country and threaten to move to the desert. We often joke that I'd end up allergic to sand. This morning I started looking more into ragweed as that is beating out my nemesis, mold. Here is what I find on a news site.

Allergies Getting Worse? Blame Global Warming.
One of the few potentially positive effects of climate change, at least in the short term, is that increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere enhances the growth of plants. That could be good for agriculture — though warming temperatures and changing rain patterns in a warmer world might wipe out that advantage. But there are no unalloyed gifts from climate change. Recent research suggests that global warming will also exacerbate respiratory allergies, as higher CO2 concentrations lead to vast increases in ragweed pollen production. "There's no denying there's a change," says Paul Ratner, an immunologist with the American College of Allergies. "It's definitely bad news for people who have allergies."
One clear reason is rising levels of ragweed pollen — which can be connected directly to rising levels of CO2. Researchers have shown repeatedly that elevated levels of CO2 stimulate weeds to produce pollen out of proportion with their growth rates — meaning you get more pollen per plant, which means more allergies. Even worse, it seems that the weediest species seem to thrive disproportionately in high CO2 environments.So, what can be done to help millions of sneezing, watery-eyed patients? As allergy sufferers already know, not a whole lot. But any action taken to control rising CO2 levels might at least help stem the increase in global allergy rates. So far, the global asthma epidemic shows no signs of abating, and in a warmer world, effective treatments for allergies will likely become even more important. One option for allergy suffers might be to start agitating for action to reduce CO2 emissions — after all, the only thing you have to lose is your breath."


So it looks like I am now to either A) spend my days rallying up against all the C02 emission violators and contributors, B) move to some small island off the coast of New Zealand (since the US is the highest contributor to the rising carbon dioxide pollution) or C) simply suffer in (semi-)silence... continuing to stifle my families desires to go to parks, open windows to "enjoy the fall weather" or even share a glass of red wine with my husband.

I Quit!