Click here for important updates to our privacy policy. NEWS Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 0:001:45 Climate change is causing an earlier start to spring and a later end to fall in Wisconsin. That creates a longer “growing season” for trees and plants to give off pollen. An analysis by Climate Central, a nonprofit that reports on climate science, found the growing season has gotten 25 days longer in Milwaukee and 33 days longer in Madison since 1970. Allergists at two of Wisconsin’s pollen-counting stations say they’ve also seen a longer season, and it’s driving demand among their patients for more treatment. Tough news for those who sneeze and sniffle at certain times of year: allergy season in Wisconsin is getting longer, and climate change is to blame. An analysis this month from Climate Central , a nonprofit organization that reports on climate science, found that the number of days per year without frost increased in more than 170 American cities since 1970, including several in Wisconsin. An earlier start to spring and a later freeze in the fall mean trees and plants that produce pollen have more time to do so. That’s reflected in data from Wisconsin’s pollen-counting stations in Milwaukee and Madison, where allergists say the season lasts as much as 50% longer than it did in the past — and pollen concentrations are higher, too. “We’ve known that when you grow plants in higher temperatures, they’ll produce more pollen per plant, for longer. We’ve known that this is coming,” said Dr. Gary Steven, a community allergist at the Allergy, Asthma & Sinus Center in Greenfield. “But now … it’s actually going on.” How does climate change affect allergies? About a quarter of U.S. adults and 19% of children have seasonal allergies, which are caused by their immune systems […]