Impacts of Climate Change on Allergens and Allergic Diseases

Climate change has been identified as the biggest global health threat of the twenty-first century. Hundreds of millions of people around the world currently suffer from allergic diseases such as asthma and allergic rhinitis (hay fever), and the prevalence of these diseases is increasing. This book is the first authoritative and comprehensive assessment of the many impacts of climate change on allergens, such as pollen and mould spores, and allergic diseases. The international authorship team of leaders in this field explore the topic to a breadth and depth far beyond any previous work. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in climate change, environmental allergens, and related allergic diseases. It is written at a level that is accessible for those working in related physical, biological, and health and medical sciences, including researchers, academics, clinicians, and advanced students.

1. Introduction Paul J. Beggs; 2. Impacts of climate change on aeroallergen production and atmospheric concentration Annette Menzel and Susanne C. Jochner; 3. Impacts of climate change on the distributions of allergenic species Linda J. Beaumont and Daisy E. Duursma; 4. Impacts of climate change on aeroallergen dispersion, transport, and deposition Mikhail Sofiev and Marje Prank; 5. Impacts of climate change on allergenicity Jeroen T. M. Buters; 6. Impacts of climate change on allergen seasonality Lewis H. Ziska; 7. Impacts of climate change on indoor allergens Ginger L. Chew and Shubhayu Saha; 8. Interactions among climate change, air pollutants, and aeroallergens Patrick L. Kinney, Kate R. Weinberger and Rachel L. Miller; 9. Impacts of climate change on allergic diseases Constance H. Katelaris; 10. Synthesis and conclusion Paul J. Beggs and Lewis H. Ziska.

Paul Beggs is a professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Macquarie University, Sydney. In 2009 he was awarded the Eureka Prize for Medical Research for his research on the impacts of climate change on allergens and allergic diseases. He was a contributing author of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in 2007, the same year the IPCC won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the President of the International Society of Biometeorology from 2008–11.