Climate Change, Air Pollution and the Associated Burden of Disease in the Arabian Peninsula and Neighbouring Regions: A Critical Review of the Literature
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The review article entitled “Climate Change, Air Pollution and the Associated Burden of Disease in the Arabian Peninsula and Neighboring Regions: A Critical Review of the Literature” is written very well and according to the journal's scope. I suggest minor changes before the article's final acceptance for publication.
1. Line 86-87, I am not satisfied with the given statement that “Air pollution is often associated with increased economic and industrial activity, which is also required for national growth and prosperity [14]”. I recommend modifying the given statement with the addition of given studies [] as “Air pollution is often associated with increased economic, and agricultural and industrial activities, which is also required for national growth and prosperity [1-2, 14]”
2. I recommend replacing the provided study in the article [12] with the given studies [1-2] as [12] is little bit old.
[1] Environmental, social and economic factors in sustainable development with food, energy and eco-space aspect security.
[2] Understanding farmers’ intention and willingness to install renewable energy technology: A solution to reduce the environmental emissions of agriculture. Applied Energy. Volume 309, 118459
2. Please add the main research questions at the end of the introduction.
3. Please add the article's structure at the end of the introduction.
4. In subsection 3.1., when you write about the risk of climate change, it is also necessary to write its rink on crop production. Therefore, I recommend modifying and adding the given statement with the given study [4] as “Many associated risks have been discussed in the literature, in particular risks on human development [39,40], crop production [4], food and water security and national stability and security [33,41-45]”
[3] Extreme weather events risk to crop-production and the adaptation of innovative management strategies to mitigate the risk: A retrospective survey of rural Punjab, Pakistan. Technovation. Volume 117, 102255.
5. What could be the main limitations of previous studies? You may discuss this in the section of the conclusion.
Good luck with the publication.
Author Response
“Response to the reviewer’s comments”
Reviewers/Editor comments:
We gratefully acknowledge your time and effort in reviewing our manuscript.
Reviewer # 1
The review article entitled “Climate Change, Air Pollution and the Associated Burden of Disease in the Arabian Peninsula and Neighboring Regions: A Critical Review of the Literature” is written very well and according to the journal's scope. I suggest minor changes before the article's final acceptance for publication.
- Line 86-87, I am not satisfied with the given statement that “Air pollution is often associated with increased economic and inxrial activity, which is also required for national growth and prosperity [14]”. I recommend modifying the given statement with the addition of given studies [] as “Air pollution is often associated with increased economic, and agricultural and industrial activities, which is also required for national growth and prosperity [1-2, 14]”
Response, yes we agree with your point and so we’ve updated the text, please see highlighted lines 87-88.
- I recommend replacing the provided study in the article [12] with the given studies [1-2] as [12] is little bit old.
[1] Environmental, social and economic factors in sustainable development with food, energy and eco-space aspect security.
[2] Understanding farmers’ intention and willingness to install renewable energy technology: A solution to reduce the environmental emissions of agriculture. Applied Energy. Volume 309, 118459
Response. Thanks for this suggestion, we’ve replaced the references with the suggested above, please see lines 79-80
- Please add the main research questions at the end of the introduction.
Response, thanks for this insightful suggestion, we’ve added the research questions in the introduction section, please see highlighted lines 123-130.
- Please add the article's structure at the end of the introduction.
Response. That is a very good suggestion, we’ve added the article’s structure at the end of the introduction, please see highlighted lines 132-139.
- In subsection 3.1., when you write about the risk of climate change, it is also necessary to write its rink on crop production. Therefore, I recommend modifying and adding the given statement with the given study [4] as “Many associated risks have been discussed in the literature, in particular risks on human development [39,40], crop production [4], food and water security and national stability and security [33,41-45]”
[3] Extreme weather events risk to crop-production and the adaptation of innovative management strategies to mitigate the risk: A retrospective survey of rural Punjab, Pakistan. Technovation. Volume 117, 102255.
Response. Thanks for your careful read and suggestion. We’ve updated the text according to your suggestion, please see highlighted line 168.
- What could be the main limitations of previous studies? You may discuss this in the section of the conclusion.
Response. Thanks for raising this to our attention, we’ve discussed limitation in previous studies in the last section of the paper. Nevertheless, we’ve updated the limitations in the conclusion, please see the highlighted lines 593-602.
Good luck with the publication.
​We would greatly acknowledge your time and effort in reviewing our paper, we think we could address all your suggestions and comments.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear authors,
Thank you so much for the manuscript. It's a very interesting work.
This manuscript can be considered for publication after some minor revisions. The manuscript requires MINOR REVISION before it is considered for publication. Thus, I recommend it for acceptance, provided that the authors revised the manuscript accordingly. The manuscript requires further effort in order to be considered for publication in the Sustainability. It requires further minor revision and amendments. The authors need to do a bit more on this manuscript in order for the manuscript to meet the expectations of the readership community of Sustainability. My specific comments are presented as follows:
1. The manuscript is well written in an engaging and lively style on research on Climate Change, Air Pollution and the Associated Burden of Disease in the Arabian Peninsula and Neighbouring Regions. The level is quite appropriate to the Sustainability readership, particularly on research on Climate Change, Air Pollution and the Associated Burden of Disease .
2. The subject is very important and it's currently something of a "hot topic” and is one to which the authors have made a significant contribution. Thus, I have no hesitation in recommending that this be accepted for publication after corrections on a few typos and other minor errors have been attended to.
3. Given the complexity involved, the authors have produced many positives and welcome outcomes. The comprehensive literature review offers a useful overview of the current research and policy, and the resulting bibliography provides a very useful resource for the current research. This is a well-articulated review article that identifies an important gap in research on innovative mechanisms of financial agglomeration enabling green coordinated development.
4. I would strongly advise the authors to pay attention to linguistic alterations. The paper would benefit from some closer proofreading. It includes many linguistic errors (e.g., agreement verbs) that at times make it difficult to follow. It may be useful to engage a professional English language editor.
5. In section 3.4.3 Combined Health Impacts of Air Pollution and Climate Change, authors are suggested to include a table here that shows the health impacts of air pollution and climate change according to the literature.
6. The paper would benefit from stylistic changes to the way it has been written for a stronger, clear, and more compelling argument. There are few sentences that need rephrasing and clarity. The authors should check this!
7. The authors must clearly indicate how the review article answered their initial research questions. This should be clearly highlighted in the paper.
8. The authors must also pay attention to the references list, in order to ensure uniformity throughout the references list.
9. On the research question about what are the main air pollutants and their sources in the APNR? ? Or what are the main health risks related to climate change and air pollution in the APNR? I am sure that air pollutants emissions from vehicles could also be among the major contributing factors here. Thus, the authors are suggested to add this aspect in the manuscript. The following closely related papers could be a good addition.
· https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139942
· https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2020.02.0081
10. Most of the references are too old. Please, kindly try to cite the most recently published papers like those published in the last 3~5 years.
Author Response
“Response to the reviewer’s comments”
Reviewers/Editor comments:
We gratefully acknowledge your time and effort in reviewing our manuscript.
Reviewer # 2
Dear authors,
Thank you so much for the manuscript. It's a very interesting work.
This manuscript can be considered for publication after some minor revisions. The manuscript requires MINOR REVISION before it is considered for publication. Thus, I recommend it for acceptance, provided that the authors revised the manuscript accordingly. The manuscript requires further effort in order to be considered for publication in the Sustainability. It requires further minor revision and amendments. The authors need to do a bit more on this manuscript in order for the manuscript to meet the expectations of the readership community of Sustainability. My specific comments are presented as follows:
Response. Thank you so much for such encouraging words.
- The manuscript is well written in an engaging and lively style on research on Climate Change, Air Pollution and the Associated Burden of Disease in the Arabian Peninsula and Neighbouring Regions. The level is quite appropriate to the Sustainability readership, particularly on research on Climate Change, Air Pollution and the Associated Burden of Disease.
Response. Thanks for such a view of our manuscript.
- The subject is very important and it's currently something of a "hot topic” and is one to which the authors have made a significant contribution. Thus, I have no hesitation in recommending that this be accepted for publication after corrections on a few typos and other minor errors have been attended to.
Response. Yes, we agree with you on the importance of the subject within the scientific committee.
- Given the complexity involved, the authors have produced many positives and welcome outcomes. The comprehensive literature review offers a useful overview of the current research and policy, and the resulting bibliography provides a very useful resource for the current research. This is a well-articulated review article that identifies an important gap in research on innovative mechanisms of financial agglomeration enabling green coordinated development.
Response. Thank you for reviewing our manuscript and for your positive feedback.
- I would strongly advise the authors to pay attention to linguistic alterations. The paper would benefit from some closer proofreading. It includes many linguistic errors (e.g., agreement verbs) that at times make it difficult to follow. It may be useful to engage a professional English language editor.
Response. Thanks for this comment. The author team read the manuscript carefully and we have edited the paper to improve readability.
- In section 3.4.3 Combined Health Impacts of Air Pollution and Climate Change, authors are suggested to include a table here that shows the health impacts of air pollution and climate change according to the literature.
Response. Many thanks for your valuable feedback. The Table has been added at the end of section 3.4.3, please see lines 557-550, and is also discussed in the text, please see line 527-528.
- The paper would benefit from stylistic changes to the way it has been written for a stronger, clear, and more compelling argument. There are few sentences that need rephrasing and clarity. The authors should check this!
Response. Thank you for your careful read. As was mentioned in comment 4, we have edited the paper to improve readability.
The authors must clearly indicate how the review article answered their initial research questions. This should be clearly highlighted in the paper.
Response. Thank you for your valuable comment. Answers to the questions were clearly highlighted in various parts of the conclusion section. A final statement was also added at the end of the conclusion to sum up the whole review with respect to the research questions. Please see the highlighted section 4 in the new version of the manuscript.
- The authors must also pay attention to the references list, in order to ensure uniformity throughout the references list.
Response. Thank you for your feedback, yes we found the problem (Ref. 9) in the reference list and so have solved that.
- On the research question about what are the main air pollutants and their sources in the APNR? ? Or what are the main health risks related to climate change and air pollution in the APNR? I am sure that air pollutants emissions from vehicles could also be among the major contributing factors here. Thus, the authors are suggested to add this aspect in the manuscript. The following closely related papers could be a good addition.
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139942
- https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2020.02.0081
Response. Many thanks for introducing these references which provide new value to the paper. We’ve added them and discuss their main findings, please see lines 379-381.
- Most of the references are too old. Please, kindly try to cite the most recently published papers like those published in the last 3~5 years.
Response. Thank you for your thorough review of the references. We would kindly note that the period of review is 2010-2021 and accordingly, as much as possible, all references and research conducted in the region were included. Some important references were in the period 2014-2016 and we choose to keep them in the manuscript as they are written by one of the leaders of air pollution and climate change studies in the region. However, your comment was given significant consideration and we have revised the reference list. For example, we’ve replaced:
[32] El-Nesr, M., Alazba, A., & Abu-Zreig, M. (2010) Analysis of Evapotranspiration Variability and Trends in the Arabian Peninsula. American Journal of Environmental Sciences, 6, 535-547.
https://doi.org/10.3844/ajessp.2010.535.547
With
Hafez, Y. (2019) A Recent Study Concerning the Climatic Variability over the Kingdom Saudi Arabia for the Period 1948-2018. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 7, 268-289. doi: 10.4236/gep.2019.78020.
AND
[101] Thoppil, P.; Hogan, P. Persian Gulf response to a wintertime shamal wind event. Deep-sea Research Part I-oceanographic Research Papers - DEEP-SEA RES PT I-OCEANOG RES 2010, 57, 946-955, doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2010.03.002.
With
Aboobacker, V. M., Samiksha, S. V., Veerasingam, S., Al-Ansari, E. M., & Vethamony, P. (2021). Role of shamal and easterly winds on the wave characteristics off Qatar, central Arabian Gulf. Ocean Engineering, 236, 109457.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
This study is a narrative review of the interlinking effects of climate change and air pollution human health impact in the Arabian Peninsula and its Neighboring Regions (APNR). The suggestion for this manuscript is shown below.
3.1 Climate and Climate change in APNR: There is only text to explain climate and climate change in APNR. The author should add a numeric to indicate the climate of each country such as average temperature, precipitation, and seasonal variation of the climate as well as land cover. The influence of topography on the climate of each area should be reported. For climate change, the author should indicate how much the temperature or precipitation changes.
3.2 Climate Change-Related Extreme Weather Conditions
- Extreme temperature: The frequency, duration, and temperature of heat waves or extreme temperatures found in APNR from the previous to the present decade to present the effect of climate change in the area.
- Dust Storm: How much change in the percentage of the dust storm characteristic of climate change?
“….an increase in AOD in recent years due to increase in anthropogenic emissions.” Line -359, how much increase of AOD should be indicated?
3.3 Air Pollution and Climate Change Interactions
- Concentration of Air pollutants such as PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, O3, CO2, and GHG in each country or APNR should be reported for both the previous and present decade.
- What meteorological conditions change from climate change and how does it affect air pollutants concentration? The example should be present.
3.4.1 Health Impact of Air Pollution and Desert Dust
- “Some of the major cities in the APNR are listed among the world’s worst with respect to PM10 concentrations” Line-433, the level of PM10 concentration is strongly requested to present how was serious the problem.
- How many hospital admissions or mortality from respiratory disease in APNR?
- “the correlation between the occurrence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and dust storms indicated that PM10 concentrations were significantly correlated with bronchial asthma” Line 444-445, the author should show the volume of the correlation coefficient (r).
- Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) are mentioned in the abstract, but they are not discussed in the result section.
Overall comment: It is very good to have references to support the discussion but numerical change and summarizing tables or graphs are requested to present the effect of climate change on extreme weather conditions.
Author Response
“Response to the reviewer’s comments”
Reviewer 3
This study is a narrative review of the interlinking effects of climate change and air pollution human health impact in the Arabian Peninsula and its Neighboring Regions (APNR).
The suggestion for this manuscript is shown below.
3.1 Climate and Climate change in APNR: There is only text to explain climate and climate change in APNR. The author should add a numeric to indicate the climate of each country such as average temperature, precipitation, and seasonal variation of the climate as well as land cover. The influence of topography on the climate of each area should be reported. For climate change, the author should indicate how much the temperature or precipitation changes.
Response: Thank you for your valuable comments. Adding a numeric will surely enhance the quality of the paper. We were able to obtain consistent data for annual precipitation and temperature for the last 10 decades in the APNR region, which we believe is a useful addition to the paper. It highlights clearly the effects of climate change in the region. Decadal average precipitation and temperature changes between 1901 and 2021 were added in two figures and are discussed on lines 209-215. Unfortunately, a consistent land cover dataset for the APNR was not possible.
3.2 Climate Change-Related Extreme Weather Conditions - Extreme temperature: The frequency, duration, and temperature of heat waves or extreme temperatures found in APNR from the previous to the present decade to present the effect of climate change in the area. - Dust Storm: How much change in the percentage of the dust storm characteristic of climate change? “….an increase in AOD in recent years due to increase in anthropogenic emissions.” Line -359, how much increase of AOD should be indicated?
Response: Thank you for your comments. As indicated by the study, the amount of increase in AOD was 4.32%, this was added to the text, please see lines 366-368. However, with respect to data related to extreme temperature, only average country-wide data were available.
3.3 Air Pollution and Climate Change Interactions - Concentration of Air pollutants such as PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, O3, CO2, and GHG in each country or APNR should be reported for both the previous and present decade. - What meteorological conditions change from climate change and how does it affect air pollutants concentration? The example should be present.
Response: Consistent air pollution data for each country or APNR were not available. This lack of reliable data is one of the main challenge for research studies focusing on climate change, air pollution and human health in APNR.
3.4.1 Health Impact of Air Pollution and Desert Dust - “Some of the major cities in the APNR are listed among the world’s worst with respect to PM10 concentrations” Line-433, the level of PM10 concentration is strongly requested to present how was serious the problem. - How many hospital admissions or mortality from respiratory disease in APNR? - “the correlation between the occurrence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and dust storms indicated that PM10 concentrations were significantly correlated with bronchial asthma” Line 444-445, the author should show the volume of the correlation coefficient (r).
Response: Thank you for your valuable comments. The statement “Average daily concentration could reach upto 280 ug/m3 in APNR” is added to line 440. The value of the correlation coefficient (r) was also added and a discussion on lines 450-456 is now included.
“Within Kuwait, the correlation between the occurrence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and dust storms indicated that PM10 concentrations were significantly correlated with bronchial asthma, acute lower respiratory tract infection and acute upper respiratory tract infection with a correlation coefficient (r) value of 0.292, 0.737 and 0.839, respectively. Moreover, PM10- associated respiratory and cardiovascular mortality rates were 0.62 per 10,000 persons [129].”
- Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) are mentioned in the abstract, but they are not discussed in the result section.
Response: Thank you for your comment. Kindly find below some of the locations in the results section of the paper where NO2 and SO2 were discussed. Since this is a review paper, the intention was to review the available literature on the topic of climate change and air pollution with delving deeply into the scientific explanation of health causes.
Line 92-94
“Accordingly, the main air pollutants are: particulate matter (PM); nitrogen dioxide (NO2); Sulphur dioxide (SO2); and ground-level ozone (O3) [19]. Out of the regulatory air pollutants, PM is found to have the greatest effect upon health [19]”
Lines 385-line 388
“Specifically for APNR, NO2, SO2, and CO2 have received considerable attention during the last decades due to unprecedented economic growth and infrastructure development [5].”
Lines 593-595
“Human health, specifically respiratory and cardiovascular health, has also been impacted by rising levels of pollution, particularly NO2, SO2, and PM pollution, and extreme dust events”
Lines 605-607
“Environmental health studies in the region focus on the health impacts of air pollution, mainly from NO2, O3 and anthropogenic PM”
Lines 467-469
“Ref. [134] found that elevated PM10 and SO2 increased total and cardiovascular mortality, hospital admissions due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, COPD and acute myocardial infarction.”
Overall comment: It is very good to have references to support the discussion but numerical change and summarizing tables or graphs are requested to present the effect of climate change on extreme weather conditions
Response: We appreciate your valuable feedback. We tried to incorporate as much data as possible from the region. As mentioned earlier, access to recent and long-term climate change, air quality, and health data is the biggest challenge in environmental research in the APNR region. We are currently studying the synergistic impact of climate change and air pollution on human health in the UAE and hopefully, this will be transformed into publishable research.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
I would like to see something more than a narative review. No doubt, the authors reviewed an impressive number of papers, significant for that geographical area. This thing gives value to their work and represents the first step to a deeper analysis, based on data and measurements.
Author Response
“Response to the reviewer’s comments”
Reviewers/Editor comments:
We gratefully acknowledge your time and effort in reviewing our manuscript.
Reviewer # 4
- I would like to see something more than a narative review. No doubt, the authors reviewed an impressive number of papers, significant for that geographical area. This thing gives value to their work and represents the first step to a deeper analysis, based on data and measurements.
Response. Thank you for your positive expectation. We would like to inform you that the team is working on the linkages between climate change, air pollution, and human health in the UAE and the related research will be ready soon.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The authors addressed all the comments, and now it is ready to publish in its current form.
Reviewer 3 Report
The author revised the manuscript therefore it can be published in the journal
Reviewer 4 Report
The number of used references is impressive. The sections of this paper are very well organized, methodology is explained step by step, conclusions are clear. Congratulations!
