Achoo! The hay fever season lasts longer than ever. Here’s what we can do about it | Kate Ravilious

You are not the only one who has sneezed in the last few days. About a quarter of the UK population are thought to suffer from hay fever. According to the latest research, the climate crisis is going to make the hay fever season longer and more intense, with up to three times as much pollen by the end of the century. Hold on to your medication.

For people with lung conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pollen bursts are a serious risk that can be deadly in the most extreme cases. At least nine people died in Australia in November 2016 due to a pollen outbreak that was caused by a storm fragmenting pollen into smaller pieces.

Plants in the UK have an extra month of productivity compared to 30 years ago, thanks to a longer growing season. Birch, alder and oak trees are usually the first to bloom, spraying their pollen as early as February in some years. The grass and weed pollens are picked up by the breeze in late summer and early autumn, followed by the deciduous trees.

The impact of the longer growing season has been felt most in the north of Britain. The oak pollen season in Invergowrie, Scotland, now starts 20 days earlier than it did in the 1990s, according to a recent study. Our changing climate is altering the distribution of allergenic plants, with some particularly potent species invading new areas.

Increasing levels of carbon dioxide is the main driver of growing pollen. Plants grow larger and produce more pollen when carbon dioxide is present. Researchers from the University of Michigan have been studying the production of pollen from different types of plants. They used a climate model to show how the pollen production is likely to change. A 200% increase in pollen levels across the US will be achieved under a high carbon-emissions scenario, according to their modelling.

The allergenicity of pollen particles is being enhanced by air pollution. Nitrogen dioxides from car exhaust pipes are thought to bind themselves to pollen particles and cause allergic disorders. The surface of the pollen grain can be damaged by others.

What can we do to stop the misery caused by hay fever? Car-free zones, low-traffic neighbourhoods and clean air zones are all ways to reduce air pollution in urban areas. Choosing to plant low-allergenic trees and grasses is important too, as is designing green spaces carefully to avoid tree canopies acting as a lid for air pollutants.

It's difficult to avoid the pollen boost from rising levels of carbon dioxide. Even if we eliminate our carbon emissions tomorrow, the cumulative effect from our historical emissions will continue to increase until 2060 at the earliest. We can stop the pollen explosion, but we can also forecast it.

In the same way that weather forecasts help people to prepare for and avoid dangerous weather, researchers are confident that we can increase the accuracy of our pollen forecasts, enabling people to take preventive action. Scientists at the University of Worcester and their colleagues have been using weather and pollen measurements from across north-west Europe to give advance warning of how severe a pollen season is going to be, based on the weather conditions in the preceding months. Scientists from the University of Michigan have been combining pollen data, weather forecasts and satellite data to develop targeted and precise pollen forecasts.

These kind of early warning systems will alert sufferers to dose up on antihistamines, wear a mask outdoors and stay indoors during peak-pollen parts of the day. hay fever is one of the consequences of the climate crisis that we are just going to have to learn to live with.

• Kate is a science journalist based in York, UK, and she writes about climate and weather related issues.