IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i24p13151-d701434.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effect of Green Space Environment on Air Pollutants PM2.5, PM10, CO, O 3 , and Incidence and Mortality of SARS-CoV-2 in Highly Green and Less-Green Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Sultan Ayoub Meo

    (Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia)

  • Faris Jamal Almutairi

    (Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia)

  • Abdulelah Adnan Abukhalaf

    (Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia)

  • Adnan Mahmood Usmani

    (Diabetic Unit, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Worldwide, over half of the global population is living in urban areas. The metropolitan areas are highly populated and environmentally non-green regions on the planet. In green space regions, plants, grass, and green vegetation prevent soil erosion, absorb air pollutants, provide fresh and clean air, and minimize the burden of diseases. Presently, the entire world is facing a turmoil situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigates the effect of the green space environment on air pollutants particulate matter PM2.5, PM10, carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O 3 ), incidence and mortality of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in environmentally highly green and less-green countries. We randomly selected 17 countries based on the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) data. The 60% of the EPI score is based on seven categories: “biodiversity and habitat, ecosystem, fisheries, climate change, pollution emissions, agriculture, and water resources”. However, 40% of the score is based on four categories: “air quality, sanitation and drinking water, heavy metals, and waste management”. The air pollutants and SARS-CoV-2 cases and deaths were recorded from 25 January 2020, to 11 July 2021. The air pollutants “PM2.5, PM10, CO, and O 3 ” were recorded from the metrological websites, Air Quality Index-AQI, 2021. The COVID-19 daily cases and deaths were obtained from the World Health Organization. The result reveals that air pollutants mean values for PM2.5 110.73 ± 1.09 vs. 31.35 ± 0.29; PM10 80.43 ± 1.11 vs. 17.78 ± 0.15; CO 7.92 ± 0.14 vs. 2.35 ± 0.03 were significantly decreased ( p < 0.0001) in environmentally highly green space countries compared to less-green countries. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2 cases 15,713.61 ± 702.42 vs. 3445.59 ± 108.09; and deaths 297.56 ± 11.27 vs. 72.54 ± 2.61 were also significantly decreased in highly green countries compared to less-green countries. The green environment positively impacts human wellbeing. The policymakers must implement policies to keep the living areas, surroundings, towns, and cities clean and green to minimize air pollution and combat the present pandemic of COVID-19.

Suggested Citation

  • Sultan Ayoub Meo & Faris Jamal Almutairi & Abdulelah Adnan Abukhalaf & Adnan Mahmood Usmani, 2021. "Effect of Green Space Environment on Air Pollutants PM2.5, PM10, CO, O 3 , and Incidence and Mortality of SARS-CoV-2 in Highly Green and Less-Green Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:24:p:13151-:d:701434
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/24/13151/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/24/13151/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sneha Gautam & Cyril Samuel & Alok Sagar Gautam & Sanjeev Kumar, 2021. "Strong link between coronavirus count and bad air: a case study of India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(11), pages 16632-16645, November.
    2. Francesco Ferrini & Alessio Fini & Jacopo Mori & Antonella Gori, 2020. "Role of Vegetation as a Mitigating Factor in the Urban Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-22, May.
    3. Dennis Y. C. Leung & Jeanie K. Y. Tsui & Feng Chen & Wing-Kin Yip & Lilian L. P. Vrijmoed & Chun-Ho Liu, 2011. "Effects of Urban Vegetation on Urban Air Quality," Landscape Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 173-188, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yuyi Zhang & Qiushi Sun & Jing Liu & Ovanes Petrosian, 2023. "Long-Term Forecasting of Air Pollution Particulate Matter (PM2.5) and Analysis of Influencing Factors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Farshid Aram, 2024. "Resources of Urban Green Spaces and Sustainable Development," Resources, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-5, January.
    3. Sungwan Son & Aya Elkamhawy & Choon-Man Jang, 2022. "Active Soil Filter System for Indoor Air Purification in School Classrooms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-16, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Winifred U. Anake & Faith O. Bayode & Hassana O. Jonathan & Conrad A. Omonhinmin & Oluwole A. Odetunmibi & Timothy A. Anake, 2022. "Screening of Plant Species Response and Performance for Green Belt Development: Implications for Semi-Urban Ecosystem Restoration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Agnieszka Jaszczak & Ewelina Pochodyła & Katarina Kristianova & Natalia Małkowska & Jan K. Kazak, 2021. "Redefinition of Park Design Criteria as a Result of Analysis of Well-Being and Soundscape: The Case Study of the Kortowo Park (Poland)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-22, March.
    3. Torun, Huzeyfe & Tumen, Semih, 2016. "The Empirical Content of Season-of-Birth Effects: An Investigation with Turkish Data," IZA Discussion Papers 10203, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Ertugrul Esmeray & Sercan Eren, 2021. "GIS-based mapping and assessment of noise pollution in Safranbolu, Karabuk, Turkey," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(10), pages 15413-15431, October.
    5. Luca Rossi & Maria Elena Menconi & David Grohmann & Antonio Brunori & David J. Nowak, 2022. "Urban Planning Insights from Tree Inventories and Their Regulating Ecosystem Services Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-18, February.
    6. MariaElena Menconi & Rosaria Abbate & Luca Simone & David Grohmann, 2023. "Urban Green System Planning Insights for a Spatialized Balance between PM 10 Dust Retention Capacity of Trees and Urban Vehicular PM 10 Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, March.
    7. Maria Elena Menconi & Ambra Sipone & David Grohmann, 2021. "Complex Systems Thinking Approach to Urban Greenery to Provide Community-Tailored Solutions and Enhance the Provision of Cultural Ecosystem Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, October.
    8. Giulio Senes & Chiara Parretta & Natalia Fumagalli & Patrizia Tassinari & Daniele Torreggiani, 2023. "Soft Mobility Network for the Enhancement and Discovery of the Rural Landscape: Definition of a Masterplan for Alto Ferrarese (Italy)," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-24, February.
    9. Gábor László Vasárus & József Lennert, 2022. "Suburbanization within City Limits in Hungary—A Challenge for Environmental and Social Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-19, July.
    10. Miroslava Mitrović & Tijana Blanusa & Marija Pavlović & Dragana Pavlović & Olga Kostić & Veljko Perović & Snežana Jarić & Pavle Pavlović, 2021. "Using Fractionation Profile of Potentially Toxic Elements in Soils to Investigate Their Accumulation in Tilia sp. Leaves in Urban Areas with Different Pollution Levels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-24, August.
    11. Bahrs, Michael & Schumann, Mathias, 2016. "Unlucky to Be Young? The Long-Term Effects of School Starting Age on Smoking Behaviour and Health," hche Research Papers 13, University of Hamburg, Hamburg Center for Health Economics (hche).
    12. Natasha Picone & Antonio Esposito & Rohinton Emmanuel & Riccardo Buccolieri, 2023. "Potential Impacts of Green Infrastructure on NOx and PM 10 in Different Local Climate Zones of Brindisi, Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-26, December.
    13. Francisco J. Tapiador & Andrés Navarro & Josu Mezo & Sergio de la Llave & Jesús Muñoz, 2021. "Urban Vegetation Leveraging Actions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, April.
    14. Weicong Fu & Yuxuan Qiao & Chenxi Que & Hongkui Chen & Emily Dang & Jianwen Dong & Shuangyi Lin, 2022. "The characteristics of ambient air quality in urban forest areas and other urban areas of Fuzhou city, China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(7), pages 9500-9518, July.
    15. Guillermo Rey Gozalo & Enrique Suárez & Alexandra L. Montenegro & Jorge P. Arenas & Juan Miguel Barrigón Morillas & David Montes González, 2020. "Noise Estimation Using Road and Urban Features," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-18, November.
    16. Robert Popek & Beata Fornal-Pieniak & Filip Chyliński & Magdalena Pawełkowicz & Jan Bobrowicz & Dominika Chrzanowska & Natalia Piechota & Arkadiusz Przybysz, 2022. "Not Only Trees Matter—Traffic-Related PM Accumulation by Vegetation of Urban Forests," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, March.
    17. Francesco Ferrini & Alessio Fini & Jacopo Mori & Antonella Gori, 2020. "Role of Vegetation as a Mitigating Factor in the Urban Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-22, May.
    18. Manca Dremel & Barbara Goličnik Marušić & Igor Zelnik, 2023. "Defining Natural Habitat Types as Nature-Based Solutions in Urban Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-22, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:24:p:13151-:d:701434. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.