Long-term Monitoring of Airborne Pollen in Alaska and the Yukon: Possible Implications for Global Change

Airborne pollen and spores have been sampled since 1978 in Fairbanks and 1982 Anchorage and other Alaska-Yukon locations for medical and ecological purposes. Comparative analyses of pre- and post-1986 data subsets reveal that after 1986 (1) pollen is in the air earlier, (2) the multiyear average of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Anderson, J. H.
Other Authors: ALASKA UNIV FAIRBANKS INST OF ARCTIC BIOLOGY AND MUSEUM
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1992
Subjects:
Geography
Biology
Meteorology
*AIRBORNE
*ALASKA
*GLOBAL
*POLLEN
*SPORES
*YUKON TERRITORY
*MONITORING
AIR
ATMOSPHERICS
CONTROL
CYCLES
DIRECTIONAL
GREENHOUSES
PRODUCTION
SEASONS
SUNSPOTS
TEMPERATURE
VARIABLES
VARIATIONS
WEATHER
SYMPOSIA
ARCTIC REGIONS
ECOLOGY
GASES
CLIMATE
MEDICAL RESEARCH
Component Reports
*Global changes
Anchorage
Arctic
Fairbanks
Yukon
Alaska
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADP007324
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADP007324
Description
Summary:Airborne pollen and spores have been sampled since 1978 in Fairbanks and 1982 Anchorage and other Alaska-Yukon locations for medical and ecological purposes. Comparative analyses of pre- and post-1986 data subsets reveal that after 1986 (1) pollen is in the air earlier, (2) the multiyear average of degree-days promoting pollen onset is little changed while (3) annual variation in degree-days at onset is greater, (4) pollen and spore annual productions are considerably higher, and (5) there is more year-to-year variation in pollen production. These changes probably reflect directional changes in certain weather variables, and there is some indication that they are of global change significance, i.e., related to increasing atmospheric greenhouse gases. Correlations with pollen data suggest that weather variables of high influence are temperatures during specific periods following pollen dispersal in the preceding year and the average temperature in April of the current year. Annual variations in pollen dispersal might be roughly linked to the 1 1 year sunspot cycle through air temperature mediators. Weather in 1990, apparent pollen production cycles under endogenous control, and the impending sunspot maximum portend a very severe pollen season in 199 existing but unfunded This article is from 'Proceedings of the International Conference on the Role of the Polar Regions in Global Change Held in Fairbanks, Alaska on 11-15 June 990. Volume 2', AD-A253 028, p453-459. See also Volume 1, AD-A253 027.

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