Welcome to the 'sneeze and wheeze' belt

If you’ve got seasonal allergies and have had something like a nasty cold lately, it might be worsened by where you live, reports the Natural Resources Defense Council.
In fact, if you live in one of the population centers of North Carolina such as Raleigh, Greensboro or Charlotte, it’s may already affect how you feel. Why? Because, the NRDC reports, areas of the country affected most by the prevalence of ragweed and smog caused by air pollution overlap one another – including the three cities in the N.C. Piedmont.
This nexus of air pollution and seasonal allergy eruptions makes the effects worse for folks who already have respiratory problems. “Both ragweed, the pollen of which is a common allergen, and smog, otherwise known as ground-level ozone pollution, have been linked to respiratory problems, including asthma. Studies have shown that when people are exposed to both ragweed and smog, they can suffer more severe reactions than when exposed to just one of these pollutants,” the NRDC says.
Among the nation’s 15 worst “Asthma Capitals,” Raleigh ranks third, Greensboro eighth and Charlotte thirteenth on the list. Other bad ones: Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago. Read more about the report here.
And for a vivid look at a national map showing the overlap of ragweed and ozone concentrations, click here. It’s not for the faint of heart, or lung.
And while we’re on the subject of bad news, the NRDC notes that global warming makes the effects of everything worse – ragweed and smog, “creating a perfect storm of sneezing and wheezing for allergy and asthma suffers in the U.S.,” said the NRDC’s Dr. Gina Solomon.