Climate
North Carolina just had its warmest start to the year on record

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
This year is off to a very warm start.
- Seven eastern states, including North Carolina, this year experienced the warmest Jan.-April on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports.
The Triangle's allergy season has gotten significantly longer
You're not just imagining it. Allergy season has been getting longer in the Triangle.
Driving the news: Allergy season in Raleigh increased by 29 days on average between 1970 and 2021, per an analysis from Climate Central, a nonprofit climate news organization, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Alice Feng report.
Why a prominent venture capitalist is building a Chapel Hill vineyard

The old Maple View Farm silo painted in Union Grove Farm colors. Photo courtesy of Union Grove Farm
Greg Bohlen, a Chapel Hill venture capitalist, has made a name for himself by investing early in hot startups like Beyond Meat and Poshmark, but the investment he cares about most right now is a regenerative agriculture farm on the outskirts of Chapel Hill.
Why it matters: Regenerative agriculture is a farming process that disturbs the land as little as possible while keeping it covered and planted constantly to improve soil health.
Raleigh's air quality has improved over the past decade
Air quality in the Raleigh metro area, as measured by fine particle pollution, has improved over the last decade, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj report.
Why it matters: Fine particles, generated from fossil fuel-burning and other sources, can enter our bodies when we breathe, making their way to the lungs or bloodstream and causing myriad health problems.

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