Air Pollution in the Uae

Having too many cars is a bad habit in a typical UAE home. For each member of the family there is a car, even if the person does not drive there will be a car and a driver available for them. this bad habit is growing and with it grows it’s problems. Some of the main problems that it is causing is traffic which leads to both air and sound pollution. UAE has one of the highest rates in air pollution in the world. The oil and gas industry is the main source of this air pollution, followed by the power and transportation sectors. Air pollution could be an outdoor cause or indoor. Outdoor pollution comes from vehicles, factories and machines. Indoor pollution can be from cleaning products, personal care products, air fresheners and electricity machines (air pollution, 2006). Classification of Air Pollutants In the UAE air pollutants are classified into two categories, Primary Pollutants and Secondary Air Pollutants. Primary Air Pollutants are substances emitted directly from a process such as industrial processes or gases emitted from motor vehicles. Secondary Air Pollutants are not directly emitted, rather they are formed in the air when primary pollutants react or interact. An example of this would be when ground level ozone interacts with other pollution causing Photochemical Smog.

This is a very serious problem, UAE is spending more than Dh18 billion to fight health problems that result from emissions from vehicles (Bilal Shafi, 2008). Air pollution has also led to the increase of many diseases such as skin diseases and eye-infections. The cause of the high amount of air pollution in the UAE is that it has grown in a very short period, in a period of 20 to 30 years. Other counties took them hundreds of years to reach the stage of UAE, and while the UAE was growing it didn’t take the necessary precautions to prevent air pollution. The Emirates has started recently looking in this problem. Because air pollution is not a country specific problem it is a worldwide...