Climate Change, Dust Storms, and Air Pollution in the MENA Region

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has experienced severe climate change over the past century due to global warming caused by regional and global greenhouse gas emissions, with numerous impacts on the environment, natural ecosystems, and humans. On the other hand, due to the region’s predominantly arid and desert climate, MENA contains the most active sources of mineral dust, accounting for more than half of global emissions. Many studies have been conducted to monitor the spatial-temporal patterns of dust events, to identify emission sources, and to determine the factors affecting their formation in different areas of the MENA region. There is growing evidence that climate change affects the intensity of dust storms in the region, but this is poorly understood. This chapter has comprehensively investigated the components of climate change in this region, its drivers, and its effects on dust occurrence using research literature and analysis of long-term satellite remote sensing data to fill the research gap.