Political disturbance and armed conflict make the air cleaner Middle East

This new study used data from the spacecraft to see how economic, political and military activity has impacted levels of pollutants in and around the Middle East over the past decade. Looking at levels of nitrogen oxides (NO2) that are generated from the burning of fossil fuels especially in transport, the team found a complex and unpredictable picture. In countries like Syria, where millions of people have attempted to flee the fighting since 2011, levels of nitrogen dioxide plummeted over Damascus and Aleppo.

But in nearby Lebanon, there was a "drastic" rise of up to 30% of 

the same pollutant, thanks to the influx of refugees. The scientists say that this was very unusual as economic growth in Lebanon declined significantly at the same time. You can see where the people from Syria are going; you can identify the camps in northern Jordan but they are also moving to cities like Tripoli and Beirut.

The energy consumption has increased; the traffic, more cars, make up a large proportion of the increase," he said.In countries like Greece, global recession and new environmental laws have had a significant role. Similarly in Saudi Arabia and Israel.

But in Iraq, the rise of so-called Islamic State can also be clearly seen in the air quality data. "In Karbala, to the south of Baghdad, a mostly Shiite area, the increase in pollutants continues," said Dr Lelieveld. "But if you look to the area northwest of Baghdad, where Islamic State is in charge, there you see that things are going in another direction - there are very specific stories in each country." The researchers say that the varying impacts on air pollutants seen across the Middle East have lessons for global projections of emissions.

Political aggravation and equipped clash in the Middle East since 2010 have had the unintended outcome of making the air more clean.  Analysts say that in nations like Syria and Iraq, levels of air contamination have fallen significantly. The measure of nitrogen dioxide noticeable all around over Damascus has fallen by up to half since begin of the common war. 

The creators trust their work has vital lessons for projections of worldwide emanations. Since 2004, researchers have possessed the capacity to screen air toxins with large amounts of accuracy on account of the organization of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument locally available the Nasa Aura satellite.

The authors point to one climate change scenario that includes increases of NO2 in the region every year between 2005 and 2030, which they say "deviates from the reality". "For many countries for which we have little information, the emissions scenarios make very simple assumptions - these definitely do not work in the Middle East as they go in all directions," said Dr Lelieveld.

"For example, in Iran the energy consumption and CO2 have continued to grow but NO2 and sulphur dioxide have declined. There isn't a general rule that you can apply in emissions scenarios."