Severe atmospheric pollution in the Middle East is attributable to 
anthropogenic sources

Osipov, Sergey; Chowdhury, Sourangsu; Crowley, John N.; Tadic, Ivan; Drewnick, Frank; Borrmann, Stephan; Eger, Philipp; Fachinger, Friederike; Fischer, Horst; Predybaylo, Evgeniya; Fnais, Mohammed; Harder, Hartwig; Pikridas, Michael; Vouterakos, Panos; Pozzer, Andrea; Sciare, Jean; Ukhov, Alexander; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.; Williams, Jonathan; Lelieveld, Jos

doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00514-6

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Severe atmospheric pollution in the Middle East is attributable to anthropogenic sources

MPS-Authors

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Osipov, Sergey
Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons249572

Chowdhury, Sourangsu
Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons100898

Crowley, John N.
Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons192706

Tadic, Ivan
Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons100914

Drewnick, Frank
Particle Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons100858

Borrmann, Stephan
Particle Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons230536

Eger, Philipp
Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons203109

Fachinger, Friederike
Particle Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons100935

Fischer, Horst
Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons280950

Predybaylo, Evgeniya
Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons100983

Harder, Hartwig
Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons101196

Pozzer, Andrea
Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons101364

Williams, Jonathan
Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons101104

Lelieveld, Jos
Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Osipov, S., Chowdhury, S., Crowley, J. N., Tadic, I., Drewnick, F., Borrmann, S., et al. (2022). Severe atmospheric pollution in the Middle East is attributable to anthropogenic sources. Communications Earth & Environment, 3: 203. doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00514-6.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000B-2416-4

Abstract

In the Middle East, desert dust is assumed to dominate air pollution, being in permanent violation of public health guidelines. Here we present ship-borne measurements from around the Arabian Peninsula and modeling results to show that hazardous fine particulate matter is to a large extent of anthropogenic origin (>90%), and distinct from the less harmful, coarse desert dust particles. Conventionally, it was understood that desert dust dominates both the fine and coarse aerosol size fractions, which obscures the anthropogenic signal. We find that the annual excess mortality from the exposure to air pollution is 745 (514-1097) per 100,000 per year, similar to that of other leading health risk factors, like high cholesterol and tobacco smoking. Furthermore, anthropogenic pollution particles account for a major part (~53%) of the visible aerosol optical depth. Therefore, in the Middle East anthropogenic air pollution is a leading health risk and an important climatic factor.