Windows have been open during the record heat and the interior of the house is also full of pollen, a thin layer can be seen on the floor near windows. Everyone, even people like myself who rarely experience allergies, are feeling the effects, burning eyes, runny nose, and cough.
Spiking levels of birch pollen around much of the state are also being seen during an early spring in Anchorage this week, as doctors deal with an influx of allergy and asthma patients.
The birch trees are producing sap earlier. (baseline post)
Birch leaves bud early.
Warm temperatures drive emergence of early willow buds, pollen and honey bee activity.
Spruce trees growing fast.
Low water, warm temperatures and our seasonal waterfowl population are factors we think are contributing to the unprecedented algae and weed growth in the lake at the the Alaska Native Health Campus.
Elodea, an aggressive invasive plant, was discovered this month in the lake used by hundreds of floatplanes, raising fears that it will be spread to multiple sites within flying reach.
Sockeye wildfire at mile post 77 of the George Parks Highway near Willow.
There seems to be an unbelievable bumper crop of spruce cones both in trees and on lawns this spring. Their abundance has been quite a topic of conversation, at least in my circles. It is coneucopia!
08-17-14 Abundant bees - Eagle River, Alaska, USA
5-19-14 Poor air quality - Anchorage Alaska, USA
High spruce pollen levels causing eye, respiratory irrigation and nose bleeds.
The winds came east out of the Chugach Mountains and caused damage to forest, unlike anything we have seen in over 50 years. It is going to be expensive and time consuming to clear the windfall.
7-19-12 Great gardening - Anchorage, Alaska, USA
The outlook for blueberries in Southcentral Alaska this year is bleak, scientists say. The reason: Two species of moth have damaged berry patches, as well as native deciduous trees, from the southern Kenai Peninsula to Mat-Su.
The birch leafminer ate its way through birches across Southcentral and Interior Alaska this summer. Hot and dry weather earlier in summer may have been optimal for them.
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