The Magazine of Dubai Women's College Volume 16 Issue 2, May ...

YOUR DECISION
By: Eman Ghazal
Here, in the UAE, winter used to be the
perfect season for people to go around and
have a good time with their families and
friends, but this is not the case any more.
When I look through my bedroom window,
I see a beautiful view of a great nature. I open
the window and the awful reality shocks me.
The only thing that I can hear and smell is
noisy smoky air, so I close the window quickly.
We watch many movies and documentaries,
and sometimes we participate in many
campaigns that concern air pollution or any
other environmental issue, but do we have the
courage to make the first step in order change?
We do many things that may harm the
environment, and we do these things without
paying any attention to the negative results
that these practices may do to the
environment. The difference in air quality
is very clear between Dubai and the other
Emirates. For example, when we go away
to visit someone or to spend a weekend
break, we notice the difference in air smell
and color, which means a difference in air
quality for sure.
Air pollution is not a small issue that can
be delayed or ignored by individuals or governments.
Traffic in Dubai has become
a problem. The city’s transportation authority
is doing a great effort to provide public
transportations for people who are living here;
yet the problem remains in the increasing
number of cars. Personally, I prefer to use
my own car for many reasons such as privacy
or/and getting from A to B faster and easier.
Industry also is growing in this region, which
proves that UAE is not totally depending on
oil anymore; because there are many alternative
economical sources in this country.
Unfortunately, industry has many bad effects
not only on humans, but also on many other
species, and that’s why many animals have
disappeared from this region, and no longer
found. To give an idea about air pollution
effect on people, a simple example would help,
a man spends his daytime in his workplace, in
an indoor, crowded office, facing the pressure
of finishing his job on time, the office is in
a building which is located on Sheikh Zayed
Road, one of the most crowded roads here
in the UAE, would he get a chance to think
about going and having a break in a nice place
with clean air, and if he has the chance to
think about it, would he be able to do it, when
and where, and would he be able to make it
before his break finishes? Questions that require
each person to think about seriously and try
to find an answer or most correctly a solution
to stop or to be more credible, to reduce it
albeit small. To sum up, air pollution has
become a health issue, which concerns many
people in UAE in general, and Dubai especially.
Many habits need to change and some important
decisions have to be taken. People in this
country, decide whether a bright future
is coming, or it would be something else!