Dr. Rosario suggested that, rather than wait for official agencies to take action, physicians need to adapt and help their patients adapt. A team of doctors wrote in 2013 that while “improved governmental controls” could lead to cleaner air, they “meet strong opposition because of their effect on business and productivity.” So, they said, the allergy community should adjust, by “anticipating the needs of patients and by adopting practices and research methods to meet changing environmental conditions.”
Dr. Rosario urged physicians to think of the climate-change effects on allergy and asthma as a “collective action” problem, not an individual one.
“The consequences will come,” he said. “There must be international cooperation.”