Impacts of Socioeconomic Development on Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) and Human Comfort in the State of Kuwait

Abstract

The relationship between particulate matter and economic growth, as well as the relationship between economic growth and Greenhouse Gas emissions, has been the topic of considerable investigations over the past two decades. Kuwait has a hot, dry, and desert climate that makes the outside air affected by natural and other unnatural factors. Fine Particulate Matter (PM_2.5) samples were monthly collected for a 41-years (from 1980 to 2021) over the state of Kuwait. This study presents a detailed investigation of possible correlation and regression analysis between PM_2.5 mass column concentration and socioeconomic factors, and they are as follows: GDP per Capita (GDPP), Greenhouse Gas emissions, and population density during the same period. The correlation between per Capita GDP and PM_2.5 concentration is statistically positive and supported at the highest level of significance. The Greenhouse Gas emissions and population density proportion exhibit significant positive effects, demonstrating that these two factors strongly affect PM_2.5 pollution. The results of the regression analysis for Kuwait shows a significant positive relationship between GDP per Capita and PM_2.5, all of which remained significant at the 1% level. The consequence of the increase in per Capita GDP, according to the results reported in the study, should be an increase in the level of PM_2.5 column density and vice versa. A significant positive correlation with a value of 0.8805 was found between Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) in extremely hot years and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Human activities lead to an environmental imbalance, and this will certainly affect future generations, so what is required to do is to feel a moral responsibility towards the environment around us.