The Dubai Palms: Construction and Environmental Consequences

Abstract

Virtually every western news agency and even the Discovery Chanel have produced ever growing pieces about the engineering accomplishments of the small Middle Eastern country of The United Arab Emirates (UAE). In an attempt to create tourism, Dubai, UAE, has created some impressive structures, but now, it is creating land itself. Five artificial islands are being reclaimed from the Persian Gulf — one of which, the Palm Jumeirah, takes the shape of a date palm, and will be the focus of this paper. Reaching several hundred meters into the gulf, and standing several above the water line, the Palm Jumeirah is so large it can be seen from space. While an impressive creation, a reclamation project of this size could easily have a negative effect on the environment. Upon researching the project, it became clear that the UAE was in such a rush to build the islands that the proper planning and environmental studies were not conducted, thus resulting in the destruction of the Persian Gulf's eco-system. While most projects do tend to negatively effect the surrounding environment in some form, the islands, due to their shear size, have completely destroyed an already fragile eco-system in a manner that may be irreversible. After introducing the reader to some basic information regarding the construction of Dubai's Palm Jumeirah, this paper will examine some of the major environmental effects that have occurred as a result of the Palm Jumeirah project.