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Seasonal allergies caused by fungal spores now start three weeks earlier under climate change
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Research led by the University of Michigan showed how the timing of fungal spore allergy season has changed across the country over the past two decades, driven by climate change. Although the trend varies across areas, the spore allergy season on average has started 22 days earlier over two decades. Credit: R. Wu et al., GeoHealth, 2025, DOI: 10.1029/2024GH001323
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New research led by the University of Michigan found that, due to climate change, seasonal allergies caused by fungal spores now start three weeks earlier.
The study, led by Ruoyu Wu while she was pursuing a master's degree at the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), found that, on average, spore allergy season began 22 days earlier in 2022 than it had in 2003. Alongside colleagues, including study senior author Kai Zhu, associate professor at SEAS, Wu performed the first large-scale systematic study of outdoor fungal spore abundance across the continental United States between 2003 and 2022.
In addition to its public health implications, the study also revealed ecological concerns.
U-M collaborators include Yiluan Song, a postdoctoral fellow at the Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society, Jennifer Head, assistant professor of epidemiology, and Kerby Shedden, professor of statistics. Daniel Katz, assistant professor at Cornell University, and Kabir Peay, professor at Stanford University, also contributed to the study.
Study: Fungal spore seasons advanced across the US over two decades of climate change (DOI: 10.1029/2024GH001323)