close your windows , catch some tissue paper , and get on your goggles . A tsunami of pollen has descended on the southeastern US .
On Monday , photographerJeremy Gilchristcaptured some incredible images of what he dub the # Pollenpocalypse in Durham , North Carolina .
The urban center declared pollen level to be “ very high ” as the yellow pulverisation coated cars , smothered the ground , and drifted through the air , create a white-livered hell for anyone with allergies .

To take the photographs , Gilchrist used a dawdler , which allow for him to achieve a better view of the scenery before him . He toldCNNthat he only lightly edited the photo before sharing them on social metier , adjusting the line to match what would be seen by the naked eye from the ground . Dry , blowy conditions help the pollen to accumulate in the surround before it was washed away by heavy rain .
accord to Pollen.com’sNational Allergy Map , numerous states in the S and southeastern United States are presently being bear on by high pollen levels , from Arizona to Arkansas to New York . According to the site , today ’s worst cities for hay fever sufferers are Huntington ( WV ) , Louisville ( KY ) , Memphis ( TN ) , Lexington ( KY ) , and Huntsville ( AL ) .
So why is it so bad this twelvemonth ? Well , like many problems we face today , a cardinal perpetrator is mood change . For the past few year , the tide of pollen that accompanies the onslaught of leap has been rebel . A warming humanity thanks to human - stimulate clime change is both bringing ahead and extending the pollen season and help plants to free even more pollen than normal .
And , unfortunately , it ’s only correct to get bad . Like the years before it , 2019 has thepotential to bethe bad twelvemonth ever for pollen allergy , causing an unwished surge in the itchy eye and running nozzle that derive with them .
“ It ’s become the exemplar of health impacts of clime modification , ” Jeffrey Domain , conductor of the Allergy , Asthma , and Immunology Center in Alaska , recently toldVox .
The yellow-bellied mist derive on America is justanother reminderthat we need to stick around to the goals of the Paris Agreement andkeep global warming to a lower limit . Forthe fifthof the human beings ’s population that suffers from hay fever , the future ’s looking pretty antsy .
you’re able to check out more of Gilchrist ’s surreal photos of # Pollmaggedon below .