10/29/10
3:20 PM
Dubai Struggles with Environmental problems after growth
Dubai, India has one of most beautiful skylines in the eastern world. But a simple look down would change a person’s view of the city. There is raw sewage in the streets and alleys. The rapid growth of the city is taking a toll on the environment. As the standards of living increase Dubai is dangerously low on resources to keep the city going. Waste treatment and removal as well as having safe fresh water are a large concern in this growing city. The water from the gulf of Omen is not readily available for drinking because it needs to be desalinized- which uses more electricity and produces large amounts of carbon dioxide and hot sludge that is returned directly to the sea. There is only about four days of back up water in the reserve systems despite the large quantities of sea water that are desalinized daily. With the addition of so many new buildings there seems to be little planning on how they will get water and electricity to them. There has been a new groundwater system put in recycles water from various places. Another growing problem is the production of steel and aluminum which also require electricity and water that are not readily available. But there are not many alternatives; wind and solar power are not readily used so industries are starting to utilize nuclear energy. But this is not a renewable resource and also leads to the issue of the disposing of the nuclear waste and nuclear energy not being renewable sources of energy.
Dubai poses an interesting situation. They have built a city that is unable to sustain itself. There is a demand for energy that is not available and the alternatives are not looking good as well. Again we have the basic issue of human wants and ambitions versus what nature can provide and what we can manufacture without messing the environment up. The raw sewage is being poured into drains and is polluting the land. The salinity of the water in the Gulf of Omen is rising which is threatening the wildlife and marine plants as well. All of these changes are due to human activity. But the people of Dubai want a better lifestyle, but at what cost is to the environment. Is making astronomical amounts of chemical waste worth it? There will be no place to put it, the shelters we build for the waste break down- like in Hungary. People could be exposed to toxic chemicals and there could be a rise in terminal diseases as well. But what can be done? Yes new standards can be put in place to decrease future destruction, but what happens to all the older building that do not have the capacity to follow new standards because being green and environmentally friendly was not a priority. It seems that the city of Dubai is at an environmental crossroads.
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