European Union (EU) president Ursula von der Leyen has said the EU could impose retaliatory tariffs on US digital products, according to a report in the Financial Times - a move that would set a precedent that directly affects the ability of IT leaders to execute their IT, digital and artificial intelligence (AI) strategies. While she used a levy on digital advertising as an example of the pressure the European Commission (EC) could put on the US, there are numerous digital services that rely heavily on products whose manufacturing is already being affected by changes the US government has made. As Computer Weekly has previously reported, in spite of a 90-day reprieve from the White House, existing tariffs are now affecting every country where manufacturers export to the US. Tech industry executives are having to adapt their sourcing strategies on the fly following China’s tit-for-tat tariff hikes and the fact that they source their products across a diverse global supply chain that includes significant manufacturing partnerships in China, Taiwan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. The tariffs are set to have a knock-on effect on the price of datacentre equipment and will affect IT buyers, whether they are purchasing wholly for on-premise deployments or are acquiring greater public cloud capacity. Discussing the implications, Forrester principal analyst Lee Sustar said: “The trade wars will impact the public cloud platform in multiple ways. In the near term, cloud providers face price shocks in their supply lines. As bulk buyers of chips, cables and other materials, they have some near-term flexibility. “But their ambitious plans – like Microsoft’s proposed $80bn buildout of AI-oriented datacentres – will become significantly more expensive to execute due to price increases for building materials. At the same time, the demand for cloud services, especially pricey AI offerings, will drop at least in the near term due to uncertainty over the wider economy. Cloud providers will face pressure to pull back on big investments and pass costs to customers with price increases.” Datacentre equipment manufacturers appear to have adopted a wait-and-see approach as they assess the impact of the current and impending tariffs on manufacturing costs. According to the transcript of its latest quarterly earnings call posted on Seeking Alpha, Dell chief operating officer Jeff Clarke said the company had built a globally diverse, industry-leading supply chain that he claimed is agile and resilient to minimise the impacts of trade regulations and tariffs. In the transcript of the company’s latest quarterly filing posted in March, HPE’s chief financial officer Marie Myers said: “Recent tariff announcements have created uncertainty for our industry, primarily affecting our server business. We are working on plans to mitigate these impacts through supply chain measures and pricing actions. Through these efforts, we expect to mitigate to a significant degree the impact on the second half of the year and to a lesser extent the impact on Q2 as it takes time to implement mitigations.” HPE CEO Antonio Neri added that HPE intended to leverage its global supply chain to mitigate aspects of the expected impact, warning to expect “pricing adjustments”.  Lenovo claims that when faced with unexpected challenges it has the ability to move customer orders between sites. The company’s supply chain resiliency is based on owning the supply chain end to end. It has also put in place a geodiversity programme to enable sourcing of commodities from locations other than China and Taiwan. There is no mention of tariffs in the earnings calls of either Alphabet – the owner of Google Cloud – Amazon or Microsoft. However, all public cloud providers are likely to experience greater costs as a result of the White House’s actions, according to Forrester vice-president and research director Mark Moccia. He points out that the cost of PCs, IT infrastructure, cloud and chips will be affected: “The new US tariffs have set the stage for increasing IT costs. The impacts will evolve over the next two to three quarters as vendors consider, develop and roll out new pricing strategies.” Moccia warned that IT infrastructure will likely see significant price increases as major manufacturing nations face high tariff rates, especially in the US. “The rising costs could balloon budgets and force CIOs to delay or prioritise the most important projects,” he added. Moccia recommended IT leaders proactively analyse costs, diversify sourcing, optimise inventory and prioritise the projects that do not sacrifice their AI strategy. Looking at public cloud services, he said: “While not currently subject to tariffs, the cost of cloud, software as a service, and other services could go up as their underlying costs increase and exchange rates fluctuate. More concerning would be if other countries retaliate by directly targeting US services where there is a surplus to many countries.”  What is interesting about Moccia’s remarks is that IT leaders could use the 90-day reprieve to negotiate new contracts, both with hardware suppliers and public cloud providers, before more tariffs are enforced. According to analyst Canalys, there has already been an uplift in PC shipments in the past quarter as IT buyers look to refresh PCs ahead of US tariffs. It may well be a good negotiating tactic for IT buyers to rush through orders for datacentre infrastructure now, rather than delay purchases until later in the year. Similarly, purchasing reserved instances on the public cloud now could buffer against potential price rises. Read more about how the US trade tariffs affect IT US tariffs drive PC sales boost: IT buyers appear to have spent the past few months refreshing PCs in preparation for the new US tariffs. What is the impact of US tariffs on datacentre equipment costs: Moore’s Law predicts that every 18 months, IT buyers can get more for the same outlay. But US tariffs may mean they end up paying a higher price.

Google Fi is practically giving away the Pixel 9a. Here's how you can snag it for free or get a $200 discount, no strings attached.

Looking for some help with today's NYT Strands? An extra hint and the answers are right here to help you finish the grid.

In a nutshell: A security researcher recently uncovered nearly three dozen Chrome Web Store extensions exhibiting suspicious behavior. Many present themselves as search assistants, while others pose as ad blockers, security tools, or extension scanners – all mysteriously linked to a single, unused domain. John Tucker, founder of browser security firm Secure Annex, discovered the suspicious extensions while assisting a client who had installed one or more for security monitoring. The first red flag: two of the 132 extensions he analyzed were unlisted, meaning they don't appear in web searches or the Chrome Web Store. Users can only download these tools via a direct URL. Unlisted extensions aren't that uncommon. Businesses sometimes use them to limit public access to internal tools. However, malicious actors often use unlisted extensions to exploit users, keeping them hidden and making it difficult for Google to detect. After Tucker began analyzing the two suspicious extensions, he uncovered 33 more. Many connect to the same servers, use identical code patterns, and request the same permissions. The apps ask users for consent to access sensitive data, including browser tabs and windows, cookies, storage, scripting, alarms, and management APIs. This level of access is unusually high, making it easy for bad actors to exploit the user's system for various malicious purposes. "At this point, this information should be enough for any organization to reasonably kick this out of their environment as it presents unnecessary risk," Tucker wrote in his blog on Thursday. "The only permission any of the 35 apps requires is management," he added in an email to Ars Technica. In addition to the suspicious number of permissions these apps request, their programming is equally concerning. Tucker found the apps had heavily obfuscated code. A developer would only program their software this way to make it difficult for others to examine and understand its actions. // Related Stories Collectively, users have installed the 35 apps over 4 million times. While it's unclear how unlisted extensions attracted so much attention without appearing in searches, Tucker notes that 10 carried Google's "Featured" tag – a designation typically given to developers Google has vetted and trusts. He didn't elaborate on how this may have influenced their distribution. Click to enlarge to see the full list.Tucker found no direct evidence that the extensions exfiltrate data – but that doesn't rule it out. One tool called Fire Shield Extension Protection ironically claims to scan Chrome for malicious or suspicious plugins. After analyzing it, Tucker discovered a JavaScript file that can upload data and download code and instructions from several shady domains, including one called unknow.com. This domain stands out because all 35 apps reference it in their background service daemons despite it having no visible web presence or clear function. Whois records list it as "available" and "for sale," making it especially bizarre that so many extensions would point to it. "Hilariously, the domain doesn't have any relevance in the code, but [is] incredibly useful for linking all of the extensions together!" Tucker said. Secure Annex published a comprehensive list of extension IDs and permhashes on its blog and in a publicly accessible spreadsheet. A simpler list of extension names appears in the image above. If you have any of these installed, Tucker recommends removing them immediately – the security risks far outweigh any potential benefit.

Shoppers usually keep an eye out for Samsung when looking for phone deals and TV deals, but it’s also a good brand to consider when you’re planning to buy a laptop. Check this out — the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD is on sale with a $400 discount from Samsung itself, bringing its price down from $1,550 to $1,150. The device will be within reach for more people with these savings, which means you’re going to have to hurry with your purchase if you’re interested as stocks may run out quickly. While the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 is a 2-in-1 laptop, the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro is a traditional laptop for those who prefer this type of build. It features performance that will be able to handle all of your daily tasks, as its 16GB of RAM is paired with the Intel Core Ultra 7 Series 2 processor and Intel Arc Graphics. You’ll have plenty of space to install your apps and save your files on its 1TB SSD, and since it ships with Windows 11 Home pre-loaded, you can start using the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro right after you unbox the laptop. The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro maintains portability with its 14-inch touchscreen, but it’s an AMOLED display with WQXGA+ resolution, so you’ll see bright colors and sharp details. This makes the laptop an excellent tool not just for working on your projects, but also for recreational activities such as watching streaming shows. Related The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro is powerful and reliable, and its configuration with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD is on sale for $1,150, for savings of $400 on its original price of $1,550. Samsung isn’t well known for laptop deals so there’s a chance that the offer doesn’t sell out quickly, but we highly recommend not leaving that to chance and completing your purchase of the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro as soon as you can. If you hesitate, you may miss out on this bargain. Editors’ Recommendations

This vivid work, which had its premiere on Good Friday 1724, brings an experimental spirit to its arresting musical dramatization of Christ’s final days.

Holy sh*t Holy water brimming with cholera compels illness cluster in Europe Testing found that the holy water was "heavily contaminated." Beth Mole – Apr 11, 2025 2:59 pm | 8 Plastic bottle of holy water in Asheten mariam rock hewn church to bring luck and chase the bad spirits on January 20, 2017 in Lalibela, Ethiopia. Credit: Getty | Eric Lafforgue Plastic bottle of holy water in Asheten mariam rock hewn church to bring luck and chase the bad spirits on January 20, 2017 in Lalibela, Ethiopia. Credit: Getty | Eric Lafforgue Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more European tourists who toted home bottles of water from a holy well in Ethiopia were likely hoping for blessings and spiritual cleansing—but instead carried an infectious curse and got an intestinal power cleanse. Three people in Germany and four in the UK fell ill with cholera after directly drinking or splashing their faces with the holy water. Two required intensive care. Luckily, they all eventually recovered, according to a report in the journal Eurosurveillance. The infections occurred in February after some of the patients reported taking independent trips to Ethiopia in January. Two of the German patients and three of the UK patients reported travel to the country, and several reported visiting a holy well called Bermel Giorgis (also spelled ‘Georgis’) in the Quara district. The German travelers and at least one of the UK travelers brought water home with them and shared it. The well, named after Saint George, is considered a revered holy site by members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, who visit seeking "healing, spiritual clarity, and divine experiences," according to a travel site. A bulletin from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control noted that the well is in an area experiencing a cholera outbreak. But there is also armed conflict in the region, making public health interventions challenging. Given that the use of holy water is deeply rooted in the church and that samples are often gifted by returning travelers, the ECDC warns that "new cases may continue to occur until the source of contamination at the well has been addressed." Whatever the source, it's a potent one, the Eurosurveillance report highlights. To get cholera, a person needs to be exposed to a hefty dose of the bacteria that causes it, Vibrio cholerae. "As the infectious dose of V. cholerae O1 has been estimated to be 105–108 [100,000 to 100 million] colony-forming units (CFU), this suggests the holy water was heavily contaminated and bacteria remained viable at ambient temperature during the flight and in Europe," the German and UK researchers who authored the report wrote. Global plague Testing indicated that the cholera strain that the travelers brought home was a particularly nasty one. V. cholerae O1, which is linked to other recent outbreaks in Eastern and Middle Africa, is resistant to a wide variety of antibiotics, namely: fluroquinolones, trimethoprim, chloramphenicol, aminoglycosides, beta-lactams, macrolides, and sulphonamides. The strain also carried a separate genetic element (a plasmid) that provided resistance mechanisms against streptomycin and spectinomycin, cephalosporins, macrolides, and sulphonamides. The main treatment for cholera, which causes profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting, is oral rehydration. Antibiotics are sometimes used to reduce severity. Fortunately, this strain was still susceptible to the antibiotic tetracycline, one of the drugs of choice for cholera. However, there are reports of other cholera strains in Africa that have also acquired tetracycline resistance. In all, "The extension of a cholera outbreak in Africa causing a cluster of infections in Europe is unusual," the authors write. They call for travelers to be aware of infectious threats when eating and drinking abroad—and to not ingest holy water. Clinicians should also be aware of the potential of cholera in travelers to Ethiopia. To truly fight cholera outbreaks, though, there needs to be sustained investment in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Cases of cholera have surged globally after the pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. "Low-income countries will continue to need overseas development aid support to control outbreaks and epidemics using effective WASH, surveillance, communications, diagnostics and countermeasure programmatic delivery," the authors of the Eurosurveillance report write. Beth Mole Senior Health Reporter Beth Mole Senior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technica’s Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 8 Comments

A ship’s ram found near Sicily that had been used in the Punic warsPeter Horree/Alamy Ancient Greek and Roman warships were equipped with bronze rams to smash and sink enemy vessels – and a team of archaeologists has just recreated one. They plan to test the weapon on replica warships to assess how effective the rams were during naval battles. “This research can help us understand the evolution of major warships, from the fleets of Alexander the Great’s successors to the vessels that secured Rome’s naval dominance,” says Stephen DeCasien at Dalian University of Technology in China,…

From its $1.50 hot dog combo to the giant slices of pizza, Costco is known for having great deals on its own signature foods. Outside of lunch, the wholesale retailer also has an impressive dessert selection full of great deals. But are the desserts actually any good?Over the past few months, I've been visiting Costco's bakery section to try all the made-in-house desserts I could find.Here's how they stacked up and which ones are actually worth buying.Editor's Note: Product availability and cost may vary. The prices listed are what the author paid at the time the product was purchased. Costco's classic cheesecake seems ready to be customized. Costco cheesecakes can be customized. Paige Bennett Costco's 12-inch cheesecake is a staple in the warehouse's cakes and pies section.Although $19 is a good price for such a big cheesecake, it's one of the most expensive items I purchased. The texture was so soft that my slice fell apart as I plated it. Costco's cheesecake would pair well with fresh fruit. Paige Bennett I liked that this cheesecake wasn't dense. Instead, it was incredibly fluffy with a texture that reminded me of a soufflé.It was so light that it started to fall apart when I pulled a slice onto my plate. The taste made up for the messy slice — this cheesecake was super creamy and not overly sweet, with a slight tanginess to balance its flavors.I can't wait to try it again with fresh fruit. I found the carrot bar cake around Easter. The carrot bar cake seemed promising. Paige Bennett During one shopping trip, I looked at desserts just a few weeks before the Easter holiday.I found a pretty bar cake with layers of carrot cake and cream-cheese frosting, plus a smattering of toasted walnuts on top. At $19 for a cake that's almost 3 pounds, it seemed like an affordable option to bring to a holiday gathering. I had high hopes, but the carrot bar cake mostly just tasted like frosting to me. Costco's carrot bar cake had too much frosting, in my opinion. Paige Bennett I love carrot cake, but I wished this one had more flavor and moisture in the cake layers. In my opinion, they were quite dry and tasted a bit bland. I wished the cake had a more spiced flavor. For the most part, I could only taste the sweet, tangy frosting, which was nice but a little too much for the cake. The chain's banana cream pie caught my eye with its caramel drizzle. Costco's banana cream pie has a caramel drizzle. Paige Bennett The banana cream pie was about as big as the other cakes in this section, which are 10 inches, and cost $16. This pie blew me away. Costco's banana-cream pie was one of my favorite desserts. Paige Bennett The pie had a good balance of flavors and textures. The crunchy graham-cracker crust held together well and added a contrast to all the creamy layers.I liked that the banana pudding had a natural taste, not an artificial one. The caramel on top added some depth in flavor, but it was subtle.I wish there had been more caramel, and I think I'd slice some fresh banana on top for serving next time, but overall this was one of my favorite Costco desserts. The chocolate-covered strawberries were available at a discount. I managed to find some Costco desserts on sale. Paige Bennett The chocolate-covered strawberries were in their own little cooler toward the front of the bakery section, and they were marked down from $13 to $6.On this trip, I went to Costco one day after Mother's Day, so I assumed these were leftovers from the holiday. Some of the strawberries looked a little worse for wear, but I managed to find some that didn't look past their prime. I couldn't taste much of the strawberries in these. I wouldn't buy chocolate-covered strawberries from Costco again. Paige Bennett The strawberries selected for this dessert were impressively big, yet they were no match for all of the chocolate they were dipped and drizzled in.With each bite, I only tasted the rich, hardened chocolate, despite how ripe and juicy the berries were. I'd probably skip these in the future. Costco's strawberries-and-cream bar cake has an impressive presentation. I thought the strawberries-and-cream bar cake sounded like a great spring and summer dessert. Paige Bennett Although this dessert was among the most expensive desserts I tried at $19, it was well worth that price based on presentation alone.It has really pretty layers of strawberries, cream, and vanilla cake, plus striped white-chocolate decorations on top.This cake seems to be a seasonal one that Costco sometimes brings back in the summer months. The cake was just too sweet for my liking. I wish the cake had less strawberry filling. Paige Bennett I wished this one tasted as good as it looked. I expected it to be sweet — it is dessert, after all — but this cake was too overly sweet to me.I think it would've had more balanced flavors if it had a little less strawberry filling and thicker layers of cream. The tuxedo chocolate-mousse cake was another gorgeous dessert. The tuxedo chocolate-mousse cake from Costco looked gorgeous. Paige Bennett Like the strawberries-and-cream cake, the tuxedo cake is a long, rectangular layer cake with a pretty design and white-chocolate decorations on top.I loved the look of this $18 cake and thought it was the most attractive dessert I purchased. The fudgy bits were my favorite part of the whole cake. I'd buy Costco's tuxedo chocolate-mousse cake again. Paige Bennett This dessert is extremely rich and dense, with chocolate in mousse, ganache, and cake forms.There were fudgy, brownie-like pieces between the layers of mousse and they ended up being my favorite part of the dessert.I'd like more of the vanilla mousse filling to balance out all of the chocolate, and I'd probably serve this with some strawberries for a fresh element, but this is a tasty and impressive dessert I would buy again. A bakery staple, the chocolate-chunk cookies come in a pack of 24. The Kirkland Signature chocolate-chunk cookies seemed like a good value. Paige Bennett The chocolate-chunk cookies are a staple in the bakery section of Costco. I got 24 cookies for just $10, and I thought they'd be perfect to pick up for a potluck or other gathering.They looked great, too — they seemed soft with some crispness on the edges. The cookies had good flavor, but they need to be eaten with milk. Costco's choocolate-chunk cookies had a good flavor. Paige Bennett Although I prefer baking my own cookies when my sweet tooth strikes, these were a fine alternative.The cookie was soft without falling apart, and I liked that the chocolate had a strong, sharp flavor to cut through the sweetness of the cookie.However, these cookies were a little dry, so if I bought them again, I'd also get milk to serve them with. What I thought were cupcakes from afar were actually some very fudgy "mini cakes." The Mini All-American Cakes at Costco cost me $9. Paige Bennett In the bakery section, I saw a pack of what looked like six cupcakes, but once I got closer, I realized they were pretty large cupcakes or "mini cakes."The Mini All-American Cakes are seasonal, and a few packs were available during my shopping trip to Costco.One cake in each pack had a red frosting heart. Most of the packs had the red frosting stuck to the container, but I did find one package with an unblemished frosting heart.Every mini cake included a generous portion of super fudgy frosting on top, and the pack of six cost $9. Despite the cute name, this was one intense dessert. The chocolate Mini All-American Cakes are incredibly rich. Paige Bennett I thought the tuxedo chocolate-mousse cake was chocolaty, but these mini cakes put that dessert to shame in terms of chocolate flavor.It was so intense and rich I could only take one bite, and the chocolate flavor lingered for a long time in my mouth.These mini cakes are best shared, and I'd need a lot of milk to finish even half of one. In the future, I'd skip these and instead grab a full-size chocolate cake. The 10-inch chocolate cake was available in multiple different designs. The Costco cake has marks where you can make 16 slices. Paige Bennett The 10-inch chocolate cake with chocolate mousse was available in a few different designs — no personalization needed.There was a plain option, a birthday option, and a really cute springtime design with floral frosting decorations, which is what I ended up selecting.This massive cake, which had light cutting guidelines for 16 slices in the frosting, was $16. The mousse filling helped balance out the rich chocolate cake and frosting. The flower on top was a nice touch. Paige Bennett Although the chocolate cake and the mini cakes are similar, the chocolate mousse layer in the full-size cake added a much-needed lighter, creamy element to balance out the fudgy icing and rich cake.Because of the added mousse, I'd be more likely to buy this cake again, even though I wasn't a huge fan of the mini cakes. Costco's lemon-blueberry loaf looked great. The loaf has a pound-cake base. Paige Bennett I picked up Costco's 2-pound lemon-blueberry loaf in the spring. The loaves looked incredible, with heaps of crumble topping and an icing drizzle all over. It also seemed like a good deal at $9. This dessert offered bright flavors and a range of different textures. I was glad to see blueberries throughout the lemon-blueberry loaf from Costco. Paige Bennett I cut out a slice and was happy to see blueberries toward the top and middle of the loaf — they hadn't all sunk to the bottom.The loaf itself was light and spongy with a good lemon flavor, which paired well with the chewy blueberries and crunchy crumble topping. I'd happily buy this dessert again, and I'd love to try it warmed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Costco improves on classic vanilla cake by adding a cheesecake layer inside. Costco has a lot of customizable desserts. Paige Bennett I love vanilla cake and cheesecake, so I was particularly intrigued by Costco's 10-inch white cake filled with vanilla-cheesecake mousse.The entire cake seemed like a great deal, too, at $16. It had a wavy frosting design that could easily be personalized with a message. This cake was one of the best desserts I tried. The cheesecake layer was excellent. Paige Bennett This was an instant favorite of mine, and I knew right away I'd buy it again for any celebrations I have coming up.The cake was so light it reminded me of angel-food cake, and the cheesecake was rich, a little dense, and creamy. The thin frosting layer on top was just the right amount to keep the cake from being overly sweet.It would be even better with fresh fruit on top.

Pollen allergy season is getting longer and more intense as the climate changes, creating more misery for allergy sufferers. But it’s not the only type of allergy threat getting worse with warming. There are other allergens, like mold spores, whose spread coincides with higher temperatures and weather disruption. But one of the most insidious and underrated dangers is now coming from stinging and biting insects. These wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, and bees are showing up in new areas and in greater numbers as more places become suitable for their hives, nests, and colonies.Insect allergies are much less common than pollen sensitivity across the population, but they can cause severe, deadly complications, and they are far less studied. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on average, 72 people in the United States died from insect allergies per year over the past decade. But insect allergies send thousands of people to the emergency room every year, and millions of people live with the fear that the next insect that lands on them could ruin their day. “From a public health point of view, it’s been heavily underserved,” said David Golden, an allergy researcher and part-time faculty at Johns Hopkins University.The result is that many people are experiencing allergic reactions from insects for the first time, sometimes unsure of where they’re coming from. Many doctors are also unaware of how to diagnose and treat insect allergies. And as the climate changes, the allergy threat from arthropods is likely to get worse.Why insect allergies are on the riseChanges in the climate are making the world more welcoming for insects that bite and sting.Warmer winters and earlier springs mean more critters like yellow jackets and hornets survive the cooler seasons and emerge early in the year in greater numbers. And as temperatures continue to rise, previously inhospitable parts of the country are becoming habitable for insects, allowing species like fire ants to migrate further north. How to navigate our buggier worldAllergies from stinging insects are getting worse as the climate changes, but there are some things you can do to keep your symptoms manageable.• Reduce skin exposure with shoes, socks, and long sleeves.• Inspect the grass, shrubs, and nooks around your home for nests. • Most insect repellent products don’t work on the most worrisome stinging insects, so it’s best to avoid the places where they live.• Some pain, redness, and itchiness after a bite or sting is normal, but you should get medical help if you experience larger rashes, dizziness, trouble breathing, swelling around the mouth, or stomach pain.• Talk to an allergy specialist if you suspect you have an insect allergy.• If you are allergic, develop a treatment plan and an emergency plan with your doctor.That’s bad news for the 3 percent of adults and 1 percent of children who have insect allergies. Stinging insect venom in particular is notorious for causing anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction where blood pressure plummets and airways swell, making it difficult to breathe. And most people don’t know that they’re allergic until they’ve been bitten or stung. Golden explained that there are three broad categories of insects that concern allergy specialists: bees, wasps, and ants. People who have insect allergies are not necessarily allergic to all of them, and even within these groups, someone can react to one variety but not another. There are treatments such as immunotherapy that can protect an allergy sufferer from insect sting complications, but they often provide relief from the bite of just a specific kind of insect. That was evident in Europe in recent years with the arrival of the invasive Asian hornet. “They were reporting that even people who were known to be allergic to yellow jackets and hornets were getting the allergy shots — venom immunotherapy — to protect them and they were stung by yellow jackets and hornets and they were fine,” Golden said. “But when they got stung by this Asian hornet, they had anaphylaxis all over again. It’s another allergy.” In the US, fire ants are also a major concern for allergy sufferers. This is an aggressive, hardy invasive species that took root in the warm climate of the southern and southeastern US, but is gradually moving northward. Their range now reaches Virginia, and they sporadically pop up in Maryland. Strictly speaking, ticks are not insects, but they are also moving further north as the climate warms. The spread of the lone star tick is particularly concerning because it can trigger a dangerous allergy condition known as alpha-gal syndrome. When the tick bites a host, it transmits a sugar that makes victims react to red meat like beef, pork, and lamb, as well as products made from mammals. Climate change is also helping spread the ticks that carry Lyme disease. Alaska is a window into the future of seasonal allergiesAll of these factors are converging in America’s largest state, which is warming up to three times faster than the global average. And since the climate there is starting from such a cold baseline, many residents are encountering allergy triggers for the first time the hard way.“We did a study that showed the further north you went, the higher the prevalence of people seeking health care, urgent care for stinging events,” said Jeffrey Demain, an allergist in Anchorage, Alaska, and clinical professor at the University of Washington. “With milder winters, you have more survival of the hibernaculum, so the queens, they come out in the spring, and they’re already impregnated.”Alaska is also getting walloped hard by pollen and mold. “Birch pollen levels can become incredibly high here,” Demain said. “In fact, we oftentimes are the highest in the world. We kind of trade off between Finland, Sweden, and Alaska as far as who has the highest levels.” Sensitivity to pollen can also trigger reactions to certain fruits, vegetables, and nuts, a phenomenon known as pollen food allergy syndrome or oral allergy syndrome. And as warmer air moves in, there’s a growing shift from snow to rain, as well as an increase in intense rain events. More rain means more humidity, which means more mold, which in turn causes major problems for buildings in Alaska built to insulate against the cold.Related4 tips for dealing with a ferocious allergy seasonThere are other environmental threats mixed into all this as well. Alaska has seen an increase in large wildfires in recent years and is projected to burn more as average temperatures rise. These fires send huge clouds of smoke and ash into Alaska’s cities, towns, and villages. “Even though that might not be in your immediate area, it causes a tremendous amount of pollution, and the particulates in the air can travel long, long distances,” Demain said. The degraded air quality can irritate airways and make people more susceptible to allergens.It shows that allergies don’t exist in a vacuum and that climate change can create health problems that intersect and exacerbate each other. Looking at allergies alone doesn’t tell the whole story about the magnitude of the threat. It also shows that it’s essential to slow the underlying changes to the climate by reducing fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in order to tamp down on the dangers of future allergies and related complications.See More: