Sneezing season is getting worse

Getting an induction stove is easier, longer allergy season, and honoring a climate hero

GOOD NEWS

Copper's induction stove called Charlie - photos from copperhome.com

Gas stoves aren’t just a source of planet-warming methane emissions—they’re also bad for your health. Even when they’re turned off, they release pollutants including benzene, a known carcinogen, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide, which exacerbates asthma.

Researchers estimate gas stoves are responsible for about 19,000 premature deaths and at least 50,000 cases of childhood asthma in the US (but probably more like 200,000, says my colleague Kari Nadeau at Harvard C-CHANGE ) – and over 40,000 premature deaths and at least a similar number of asthma cases in the UK and EU! These health risks are why I made the switch to an induction stove seven years ago myself, and I haven’t looked back. I love how quickly they heat up, how easy they are to clean, and how they offer an additional flat work surface in a small kitchen.

Induction stoves are faster and much safer: but for a long time they were more expensive, and for those of us in North America, we often needed an electrician to come in and wire an outlet for 240 volts, as opposed to the standard 120 volts. But no more!

Today, induction stoves are typically the same price as regular electric stoves and now, a start up called Copper has even developed a new induction stove that can be plugged into a standard outlet. Copper’s stove includes a smart battery which charges when electricity rates are low. Then, the range can operate using a combination of power from the outlet and the battery to reach the same capacity as a range plugged into a 240-volt outlet would.

If you have no choice but to keep using your gas stove for now, there are steps you can take to protect your health. Keep the vent running while you are using it and as much as possible while you are not. Open the windows when you can, and keep children and anyone with asthma or respiratory problems out of the kitchen as much as possible.

The good news, though, is that getting a safer stove is getting easier and more affordable every year.

NOT-SO-GOOD NEWS

Climate change is lengthening the duration and intensity of the seasonal allergy season around the world. This is not good news for the 10 to 30 percent of people who suffer from allergies around the world: and for many, these allergies are getting worse.

First, higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere help plants like ragweed produce more pollen—and the pollen they produce is more allergenic! Then, in many northern latitudes, the freeze-free growing season is getting longer and plants are spreading. In North America, “plants like ragweed, a common fall allergen, and grass, a late spring and summer allergen, now have longer growing seasons. They are producing higher amounts of pollen and are growing in new geographic locations,” said Dr. Amanda Dilger, an ENT surgeon.

How is this affecting people around the world? In the U.S., a recent analysis showed that the growing season lengthened by an average of 20 days since 1970. In Europe, ragweed is an invasive species that is spreading in a warming world. One study found that by 2041 to 2060, some 77 million people in the EU will become sensitized to ragweed, up from 33 million today. Meanwhile, another study conducted in Denmark found that the amount of grass pollen has jumped 19 percent since the 1980s and birch pollen by 35 percent (that's the one I'm most allergic to!).

This Harvard Health Letter has ideas on how to cope with this lengthening allergy season, including checking outdoor air quality before engaging in activities, using a HEPA filter indoors, and wearing a mask outside on especially bad days.

INSPIRATION

Texas, and the world, lost a true climate champion with the passing of U.S. Representative Sylvester Turner last week. As Houston’s mayor from 2016 through 2023, Sylvester Turner championed bold climate action in a city at the heart of the oil & gas industry and on the front lines of climate risk.

Turner, who served as chair of the U.S. Climate Mayors in 2021, spearheaded Houston’s groundbreaking Climate Action Plan, which connects climate resilience and emission reductions to social justice. I contributed to that plan, as well as the city’s Resilience Plan developed under his leadership, and was honored to share the stage with him at Houston’s 2023 Earth Day celebrations. The video is available here and our conversation starts at the 11 minute mark.

Turner, who steered Houston through Hurricane Harvey along with six other federally declared disasters, understood what’s at stake. “It’s clear that the climate is getting warmer and the storms are coming with greater frequency and greater intensity and costing even more,” he said in 2021. “It’s not getting better. It’s getting worse.” Watch a video of that interview here.

Sylvester Turner was a true climate champion, and an enduring example of the difference one person can make. Even in the heart of the oil and gas industry, he showed us that transformative climate leadership is not only possible, but happening.

Tues April 1 at 5:30pm ET - Ignatius Lecture at American University - in person in Washington, DC. More details to come, free

Thurs April 3 at 5pm ET - Faith & Waters Restoration Forum with Oakland Mills Interfaith and Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake - in person in Columbia, MD, free

Fri April 4 at 7pm ET - Climate change, faith, & culture with Wayne Presbyterian Church - in person in Wayne, Pennsylvania; live stream information to come

Sat April 5 at 10am ET Breakfast and Q&A with Wayne Presbyterian Church - in person in Wayne, Pennsylvania; registration required

Weds April 30 at 8pm ET - Don’t Say Climate? Bridging Divides with Katharine Hayhoe a fundraiser for the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America - virtual, $35