Saharan dust storms are major events that occur normally in the summer and affect the air quality in various regions of the world. In particular, Saharan regions in Morocco and Mauritania actively contribute to dust storms. The Saharan outbreak that took place between 14 and 19 of June 2020 was one of the most severe Saharan dust storms in recent years. This paper investigates the PM10 emissions and concentrations during the 4 days of the dust storm in the region of Western Sahara of Morocco and Mauritania and the transport of the PM10 from the area of study to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico using Hybrid Single‐Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model (HYSPLIT) software with PM10 emission model and cluster analysis. We also analyse the effect of the transported PM10 particles on the concentration level in the Southern parts of the United States and the Martinique islands. The results showed that the average PM10 concentration below the altitude of 100 m during the dust storm was higher than 100 μg/m3 in most of the regions such as Dakhla in Morocco, Nouakchott, Adrar and Tiris Zemmour in Mauritania. This is confirmed by Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) values between 0.7 and 1 retrieved by MODIS‐Aqua for those areas. Furthermore, PM10 particles transported across the Atlantic Ocean affected the concentrations observed in the Caribbean Basin, where hourly PM10 reached 372 μg/m3 and the dust top layer was found between 4 and 4.5 km above ground level. In addition, HYSPLIT cluster analysis results revealed several PM10 particle source areas in Western Sahara such as Bir Anzerane in Morocco, Nouakchott and Tichit in Mauritania that contributed to the increase of PM10 concentrations to an Unhealthy level in the Texas and Florida States in the United States.

Particulate matter (PM) is the main determinant of air pollution caused by a variety of natural and human-caused sources. Because it can be suspended in the atmosphere for long periods of time and travel long distances, it can cause a major health crisis for humans and damage the environment as well. Studies are still required to understand how the PM moves around obstacles, especially in urban areas. In this study, small scale experiments were carried out to look into the effects of simple obstacles, heights and distance from the source on the PM10 concentration. Results show that when obstacle heights and distance from the source increase, the PM10 average concentration decrease. Also, turbulence created by the obstacles affects the PM10 concentration in both sensors before and after the obstacle, mainly in cases of high wind speed. In addition, the use of incense sticks as a source of PM pollution illustrated that moderate burning of incense sticks in indoor places could skyrocket the PM10 concentration to an unhealthy level.

The Earth's climatic system is greatly dependent on atmospheric mineral dust. Dust particles are regarded as one of the less well-known contributors to recent climatic changes, much like other aerosol constituents. Fifty to seventy percent of the world's budget for mineral dust comes from the Sahara Desert areas. These sources can produce dust-loaded air masses that can travel great distances and affect many parts of the world including Europe, the Middle East, North and South America. In March 2022 Europe faced two Saharan Dust storms (14-19 and 28-31), that affected many countries including Hungary. We used registered measurements of PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations from urban background air quality station in Budapest and MONARCH model to assess the effects of the two Saharan Dust storms on Budapest. As measured by daily average concentrations, PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations rose by 12 µg/m3 and 10 µg/m3 respectively during the first Saharan Dust event (SDE1), and by 14 µg/m3 and 5 µg/m3 during the Second Saharan Dust event (SDE2). While the effects of both SDEs on PM10 were nearly identical, SDE1 had a greater impact on PM2.5 concentrations than SDE2. Moreover, the dust load arriving to Budapest as estimated by the MONARCH model was higher in the SDE1 (1.26 g/m3), and that was associated with high values of dust surface concentration and Dust optical depth (243.1 µg/m3 and 0.71).

Human health and food quality are greatly affected by the state of the ambient air. In the European Union, Poland is considered as a country that has the most polluted air. The level of PM10 concentration exceeds the EU limit value in almost all the areas of Poland, but higher concentrations are registered in the southern regions, which are considered as the coal heartlands. Katowice, Kraków, and Rzeszów are three big cities in the southern part of Poland and are surrounded by coal mining industries. High PM10 concentrations are usually registered in these three cities, especially in the winter period. In 2018, the peak PM10 daily concentration occurred in the three cities at the same period (04/03/2018 in Rzeszów, 05/03/2018 in Kraków, and 05/03/2018 in Katowice). The aim was to identify the effect of each of the 8 coal mines that exist in Poland on the level PM10 concentration for the first week and March where the highest daily PM10 concentration for the year 2018 was registered. Using HYSPLIT Frequency analysis, the results showed that 100% of the particles coming from Bełchatów, Bolesław Śmiały, Halemba, Jas-Mos, Pniówek and Marcel Coal Mines hit Katowice region, and 10% from Bogdanka. While for Kraków, it was affected by 100% of the particles that are originated from Bolesław Śmiały, Pniówek, Halemba, and Jas-Mos Coal Mines and 10% Bogdanka, Bełchatów, and Marcel Coal Mines. Moreover, Rzeszów was the least affected city by the coal mines, 10% of the particles coming from Bogdanka, Bełchatów, Jas-Mos and Marcel, Halemba, and Pniówek Coal Mines attributed to high PM10 concentration during the first week of March 2018. Katowice and Kraków are more affected by the coal mines industry, Particulate Matter particles originating from the coal mines sites contribute to the high level of PM10 concentration.