Elm pollen allergies and urban landscapes

Tonight we will go to an annual dinner held on the 34st floor of a building downtown. From the terrace of the party room, we will be able to see the amazing number of trees that are part of the Twin Cities' urban forest. On my street are some lovely elm trees, the ones that have not succumbed to Dutch Elm disease, and those replanted after diseased trees were cut down. Their tiny leaves right now are a brilliant yellow-green, and I welcome this moment when the trees are beginning to leaf out. But I also realized a few years ago that I now have hay fever for the first time in my life. I noticed that my symptoms being when the day the elms began to shed their pollen; it's easy to tell when this begins as the trees drop their small reddish flowers and a sticky layer begins to coat my car windshield. I Googled Elm Pollen and discovered something very interesting: the pattern of urban tree plantings in the U.S. has changed in such a way that we are now exposed to much more pollen than we used to be, and the number of allergies has risen. Why? both male and female trees used to be planted, but after the massive die-offs from Dutch Elm Disease, cities starting planting mostly male (clone) trees because the female trees shed "litter." However, the most efficient organism for removing the pollen from the air is the female tree; our noses and mucous membranes imitate the sticky female elm flowers, and become pollen traps. As the levels of air-borne pollen have risen due to these landscaping choices, allergies and their severity in urban areas in the U.S. have been on the rise. Thomas Leo Ogren has a book with Ten Speed Press called Allergy-Free Gardening that apparently explains this history.
I think I have to learn how to use a neti pot.