Searching for the silver lining … perhaps Global Warming will boost drug company stock prices.
Searching for the silver lining … perhaps Global Warming will boost drug company stock prices. That is one reasonable conclusion from the National Climate Assessment released earlier today.
In short, the NCA lays out that climate is creating worsened conditions for allergens and thus worse consequences for allergy sufferers … and that this will worsen indefinitely into the future
According to the Assessment
Climate change, resulting in more frost-free days and warmer seasonal air temperatures, can contribute to shifts in flowering time and pollen initiation from allergenic plant species, and increased CO2 by itself can elevate production of plant-based allergens.,,,,,, Higher pollen concentrations and longer pollen seasons can increase allergic sensitizations and asthma episodes,,,, and diminish productive work and school days.,,
Simultaneous exposure to toxic air pollutants can worsen allergic responses.,,, Extreme rainfall and rising temperatures can also foster indoor air quality problems, including the growth of indoor fungi and molds, with increases in respiratory and asthma-related conditions.,,, Asthma prevalence (the percentage of people who have ever been diagnosed with asthma and still have asthma) increased nationwide from 7.3% in 2001 to 8.4% in 2010. Asthma visits in primary care settings, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations were all stable from 2001 to 2009, and asthma death rates per 1,000 persons with asthma declined from 2001 to 2009. To the extent that increased pollen exposures occur, patients and their physicians will face increased challenges in maintaining adequate asthma control.
As per the National Wildlife Foundation’s Extreme Allergies and Global Warming from several years ago, the NCA starkly lays out the facts: global warming is making and will make conditions worse for allergy sufferers. In fact, while global warming has almost certainly already made allergy conditions worse, we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg so far.
Ragweed will worsen … fungal pollution … tree pollen … Oh, of course, poison ivy gets worse in a warming world, with a more allergic form of urushiol being produced, with faster growth, over a longer portion of the year.
Considering this leads to some inescapable conclusions: time to stock on Benadryl and time to consider buying some drug company stocks, since could be of greater value in a higher CO2 levels, warming world …
The United States economy loses some $11.2 billion in medical costs and some $700 million in lost productivity per year to hay fever suffering each year. What will be the Global Warming multiplier?
The U.S. economy loses over 14 million school days, over 14 million work days, over $15 billion in medical costs and over $5 billion in lost earnings a year due to asthma. What will be the Global Warming multiplier?
Notes:
1. Hat tip to Seth Borenstein, AP, for “America the Sneezy”.
America the beautiful becoming American the stormy, sneezy and dangerous because of global warming, fed report says; http://t.co/woIOsqO9in
— seth borenstein (@borenbears) May 6, 2014
2. This Benadryl angle first discussed here.