While coral communities world-wide are currently threatened by a wide variety of factors, Persian Gulf corals are especially fragile due to human-caused factor sranging from oil spills, industrial thermal and substance effluents and military actions, as well as harsh environmental factors such as high salinity, extreme water temperatures and tidal action. In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai’s renowned real-estate boom has especially compromised formerly protected coral communities with the construction and development of the largest artificial islands in the world.Environmental protests have helped call attention to the tragedy, but much more proactive protection is necessary to ensure the survival and health of these endangered coral reef habitats.
Keywords: Dubai; Persian Gulf; artificial island; coral reef; palm island; threatened habitats.
Rutz, Kerry. "Artificial Islands versus Natural Reefs: The Environmental Cost of Development in Dubai." In International Journal of Islamic Architecture, Volume 1, Number 2 (pp. 243-267), edited by Mohammad Gharipour, Bristol: Intellect, 2012.
