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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Ajit Niranjan

The climate crisis is making our hay fever worse – and affecting our enjoyment of nature

A person holding a tissue to their nose, in front of a flowering tree
‘Big oil is hampering our ability to appreciate the very thing we’re losing’ … the pollen season in Europe is now longer. Photograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images

Here’s a confession that may alarm faithful readers of this newsletter: I am an environment reporter who does not love nature.

Before I get cancelled, yes, I do care about the fate of the natural world – scientists are clear that wrecking it hurts us – but the weird wonders of wildlife have always occupied a smaller place in my heart than those of most people I interview. One reason for that, I realised last week, is that hay fever has seriously dampened the pleasure I get from ambling through forests or squelching through wetlands.

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