Australian National University expert Simon Haberle says the ACT has also experienced high levels of allergenic tree pollen likely brought on by a wet winter.

Australian National University expert Simon Haberle says the ACT has also experienced high levels of allergenic tree pollen likely brought on by a wet winter

Hay fever sufferers across the ACT are in for a rough summer — with 2021 already topping the charts for the worst year on record for pollen counts.

Canberra pollen expert, ANU Professor Simon Haberle, says this year’s grass pollen season is the worst he has seen in the decade he’s spent monitoring local levels.

The pollen count in Canberra is the highest it's been in at least a decade, the period over which measurements have been taken. The season started slowly, according to Professor Simon Haberle of the ANU but then took off as temperatures rose.

Just when Canberrans might have thought they were out of the woods when it comes to hayfever, chances are the itchy eyes and stuffy noses came back with a vengeance last week. If you’re a hayfever sufferer, the bad news is there are two pollen seasons in the ACT.

It might have seemed like a perfect day, with sunny skies and new freedoms but spare a thought for Canberra's hayfever sufferers this Friday. The ANU reported the largest number of grass pollens it's ever had in more than 10 years of monitoring.

As one bumper pollen season comes to an end, the region will slide smoothly – albeit with itchy eyes and sneezing – into the next.

However, renowned pollen expert Professor Simon Haberle wants to focus on what he thinks could be a silver lining for hay fever sufferers in the weeks ahead.

While Canberra is notorious for high levels of pollen in spring, Professor Simon Haberle, a palaeoecologist from the Australian National University, says he's predicting a stronger allergy season compared to previous years.
"The increase in rain leads to more plant productivity and we have noticed a lot more pollen because of this," he said.
"The link to bees is there's more pollen for them to forage, which will likely increase the number of them around the ACT.

THE onset of an “extreme” hay fever and asthma season will be adding to the covid woes of many locals.

Prof Simon Haberle, director of ANU School of Culture, History and Language, is the expert leading a team of researchers who track daily pollen and spore counts on the Canberra Pollen website.