all right well the spring season has finally arrived and so has one of our least favorite times of the year the sneezing itchy eyes and runny noses that come with allergies new research shows higher counts of pollen are starting earlier and lasting longer you can thank the mild winter weather for that and for allergy sufferers it means this season is expected to be a whole lot worse just how bad I recently asked Catherine Monteleone an allergist and immunologist at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School it seems like allergy season never ended Dr Monteleone so has this now become a year-round issue well many people do have you around allergies because they have indoor and outdoor allergies but normally you would get a break over the winter or in the real mid-summer when it's very hot and dry this year it's starting early so people are having symptoms earlier is it earlier and longer and what can we attribute that to it is earlier unfortunately it's longer and unfortunately it also has more pollen being distributed from each plant and that's really all global warming increasing temperatures so pollen and plant growth is just going on longer and longer starting earlier going on longer and why is that I mean this is for allergy sufferers like myself not very good news um why is that this seems to have been a trend now that we're seeing over the last several years right it varies year to year but there is a trend and it seems to do with global temperatures and with carbon dioxide in the air so that there is more robust plant growth they're growing because the temperatures are warmer I mean we saw warm temperatures this winter they're just growing earlier and budding earlier and that growth is continuing they're not drying out and um the pollen therefore is being shed longer and because of increasing carbon dioxide levels the plants themselves are actually making more pollen so it's not just more pollen it's also more potent it's more important because there's more in the air so how does one tell the difference then between allergy symptoms and we're still in this respiratory season as well of different illnesses going around how does one tell the difference whether they have a cold or respiratory virus or allergies well people who get them every year seem to know because they know what's coming it's that time of year and symptoms start for people in whom this is new allergies are more itchy Sneezy runny you don't really get the fevers and the aches that you get with a cold so that's a little different and a cold to be sure to live it will go away in five days a week and um analogy will not it will continue yeah for the entire season so okay if we're seeing it flare let's say a month earlier than than we typically did how long does the allergy season go when might we get some relief well we're in tree season now and unfortunately that bleeds right into grass pollen season so you won't get relief and then you you might get a little bit relief if it gets very dry and hot and you know end of July beginning of August but then mid-august the Ragweed and the other Weeds start and some people just go all year it just it really depends mold is out there if we get moisture in the summer certainly mold is in the spring and fall so depending on what you're allergic to unfortunately it really can just go from one season into the next so your office is never not busy that's what you're telling me right all right Catherine Monteleone allergist and immunologists with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School thanks so much for your time thank you thank you