Conflict in the Middle East improve air quality

The air quality in places of conflict improved.

Political turmoil and armed conflict in the Middle East region since 2010 have resulted in increasingly clean air.



Researchers from the Max Planck Institute said the level of air pollution in Syria and Iraq, for example, drastically reduced since 2011.

In the Syrian capital, Damascus, the amount of nitrogen dioxide contained in the air dropped by 50% after the civil war began four years ago. Similar conditions also occur in the city of Aleppo.

This, according to the researchers, reflects the state of Damascus and Aleppo were increasingly abandoned. Therefore, nitrogen dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels. If the lower the amount of fossil-fueled cars passing by in a city, then the level of chemicals in the city is getting smaller.

Different conditions found in Lebanon. Levels of nitrogen dioxide in neighboring Syria was increased by 30% in line with the increasing number of refugees flowing there since the conflict began.

The density of nitrogen dioxide in the period 2005-2014.

The findings are based on the data generated air pollutants Ozone Monitoring Instrument on the Aura satellite belonging to the US space agency (NASA).

"Simply stunning. You can see where the Syrian people go. You can recognize the camps in northern Jordan. They also go to cities such as Tripoli and Beirut. Energy consumption there has increased. Traffic, more cars that contribute to the increase," said research team leader, Dr Jos Lelieveld of the Max Planck Institute.

ISIS group

Lelieveld also refers to the level of air pollution when talking about pockets of strength ISIS group in Iraq.

"In Karbala, south of Baghdad, the level of pollution continues. However, if you look at the northwest Baghdad, territory controlled by ISIS, you will see things differently. There are specific cases in each country," he said.

The level of air pollution in the area controlled by ISIS visible through satellite monitoring.

The study, looking at a map of the Middle East from the aspect of air pollution levels, according Lelieveld, useful for the preparation of the project's strategy of global emissions.

He said the tactic reduces pollution can not be generalized across the world. In the Middle East itself, each country has a pollution problem that must be handled differently.

"In Iran, for example, energy consumption and C02 continues to grow. However, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide decreased. There is no general rule that can be applied to the emission scenarios," he said.

The researchers claim difficult to use technology in order to develop a strategy that is more certain. At a regional level of nitrogen oxide contained in the air may be lower, but the local people might use cheap fuel for heating and more dirty.

However, Professor John Burrows of the University of Bremen, Germany, judging at least no scientific information that can be used to map the conditions in certain areas.

(Source: BBC)