- More than 90 percent of harmful air pollution in the Middle East and parts of North Africa comes from fossil fuels.
- The long-standing assumption was that the smog choking most of the region’s cities was primarily composed of desert sand, given their location on the world’s “dust belt” where there are frequently more than 20 major sand storms each year.
- Region-wide, the team calculated that air pollution from fossil fuel use caused one in eight deaths, noting that air quality there “permanently exceeded” WHO guidelines.
<span>Fossil fuels make up 90% of Middle East air pollution: study</span>
