Something in the air
Experts blame European pollen for the mess
Alexandra Wood
FOR hundreds of motorists the yellow dust which greeted them as they strode to their cars yesterday morning was not to be sniffed at.
The thin layer on every surface had apparently dropped out of a cloudless sky.
The Met Office was swamped with calls from worried residents from an area stretching from East Anglia to North Yorkshire and far inland.
But their fears were assuaged when they were told it was mostly pollen ? blowing in from Europe.
Although accusing fingers were pointed at that bane of spring, oil seed rape, scientists say the most likely explanation is an explosion of birch pollen in Europe caused by near-perfect weather conditions over the last few weeks.
A wet April followed by a warm early May have combined to see birch catkins releasing an enormous amount of pollen grains in just a few days.
And it could lead to running noses and sore eyes for the 25 per cent of hayfever sufferers who are allergic to birch pollen.
The Met Office said satellite images showed a large plume of dust, several hundred miles across, being blown from the east, from western Russia, the Baltic States, but also from further south from Poland, Germany and Denmark.
Seasonal agricultural fires in western Russia and industrial pollution, as well as pollen from local sources has also contributed to the dust.
"It is really a mixed bag" said a Met Office spokesman.
And there is a possibility of more to come in the next few days with the wind set to continue from the same quarter.
One bemused resident in York said: "I stepped out of my door this morning and all the cars in the street were covered in it. It is very, very fine and I wondered what it was. It is amazing to think it has come so far."
Professor Jean Emberlin, from the National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit, said there had been very high counts for birch pollen over most of Europe.
"There's so much pollen in the air this year ? it is mostly birch and pine pollen. Basically it's not going to hurt anyone unless they are particularly allergic to birch.
"It is well-known that pollen can get into the upper layers of air and travel a long way."
Prof Emberlin said the distance which pollen could travel showed how ridiculous the Goverment's stance was on exclusion zones around fields growing GM crops: "It just shows that pollen knows no boundaries. It travels a long way."
A Met Office spokesman added: "Sunday May 7 was a dreadful day for people in Denmark allergic to birch pollen. New record counts were recorded."
If anything is to blame for hayfever, it is grass, with 95 per cent of sufferers allergic to it. Experts say grass pollen counts have been rising since 1999 thanks to warm springs and sufficient rain.
The number of hayfever sufferers has doubled over the last 20 years and some predict that by 2050 everyone will have it.
11 May 2006
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
