Furry, furry, furry, furry, the latest poplar and willow catkin warning is here! In addition to preventing allergies, what else should you pay attention to?

April is the most beautiful month of the year, with flowers blooming, but the trouble of "snow in April" also comes.

Recently, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry and the Beijing Meteorological Bureau released this year's first "Willow Catkins Forecast" - starting from April 4, the first peak will be from April 9 to April 15, the second peak will be from late April to early May, and the third peak will be in mid-May, with the worst weather from 10 am to 4 pm every day.

Where do these flying catkins come from? In addition to causing discomfort to people with allergies, what other potential risks are there?

Friendly reminder: Difficulty breathing, itchy nose, sneezing, etc. after reading the article are all normal reading experiences.

01

What is that floating fluff?

In North China, poplar and willow catkins are the seeds of poplar and willow trees . Generally speaking, poplar catkins fly first, followed by willow catkins. Common poplar trees are Canada poplar and white poplar. Poplar catkins usually appear in mid-April. They are impatient and like to gather in groups. Willow catkins are mostly produced by weeping willows and matsudanax, and are thinner than poplar catkins. Willow catkins fly around freely and are considered slow-moving. They usually appear around late April and early May.

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These trees are fast-growing, drought-resistant, and highly resistant to adversity. They are widely planted in northern China and can bring large areas of green shade in a short period of time. Unfortunately, people did not expect that the catkins of poplars and willows would have such a big impact on the environment.

For friends in the south, the main thing to deal with is the Chinese parasol tree catkins. In a month or two, the kapok catkins will probably also appear.

"Phoenix tree fluff" is actually the fruit hair of the plane tree. It floats all over the sky at the turn of spring and summer.

Like cotton , kapok also has cotton balls attached to its seeds. In summer, the successfully pollinated and unshed kapok flowers begin to bear fruit, which dry and crack when mature, usually into five petals, revealing the cotton balls inside.

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For people who are prone to allergies, kapok fluff is also annoying; but fortunately , it is usually not as terrible as poplar and willow fluff . First, the air humidity is high in the south in summer, so kapok fluff is heavier when flying; second, kapok branches have a large horizontal spread, and the planting density is generally low, so there is no "many cottons" environment, which is slightly friendlier to rhinitis patients.

02

Allergies Are Not the Only Problem

Although the fluff itself is not poisonous, it is more likely to cause skin allergies for people who are prone to allergies. In severe cases, it can also stimulate respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic bronchitis. At the same time, because it is light, it can fly everywhere and pick up pollen, dust, and germs, making it easy to become an allergen and a carrier of pathogens. Therefore, when they fly around, everyone must protect themselves!

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Keep in mind the four-word motto:

① Hide: Generally, 10 am to 4 pm is the peak period for flying catkins, so people who are prone to allergies should try to avoid this period;

② Cover: Take good protection when going out;

③Prevention: Do not use ignition to clean poplar and willow catkins;

④ Cleaning: Before going home, remove all the poplar fluff residue from your body.

If flying catkins accidentally get into your eyes, do not rub them with your hands, but rinse them with clean water.

In addition, floating catkins are also a major safety hazard . If they fly into car water tanks, computers and various mechanical instruments, they will affect their normal operation; if they fly onto the road, they will affect the sight of pedestrians and drivers, causing traffic safety hazards.

GIF source: Sina Weibo: @中国消防

What’s even more frightening is that flying catkins are flammable. If they accumulate in large quantities and accidentally come into contact with fire sources such as cigarette butts, they can easily cause fires. Every year when poplar and willow catkins “let themselves fly”, a high-energy warning will sound ahead!!!

Click on the picture to receive this safety tip↓↓

Image source: China Meteorological News Agency

Some people may ask: Since there are so many troubles, why should we plant it?

Poplars and willows are the main tree species for greening because of their inherent advantages such as easy reproduction and survival, fast growth, and low maintenance costs. In addition to the beautiful spring scenery we can see, they win with their ornamental value, "carbon fixation and dust retention" is also a magic weapon of poplars and willows.

According to statistics, an adult poplar tree can absorb 172 kg of carbon dioxide, release 125 kg of oxygen, and trap 16 kg of dust in a year. An adult willow tree can absorb 281 kg of carbon dioxide, release 204 kg of oxygen, and trap 36 kg of dust in a year. It can be said that poplar and willow trees are great contributors to increasing urban green space and improving the ecological environment .

The catkins are flying in the spring, are you prepared for protection?

Comprehensive sources: People's Daily, China Meteorological News Agency, etc.