Vaccination drive in the UAE
Just a few months ago, when the whole world was struggling with the COVID-19 vaccine, UAE was one of the few places where it was easily available (“From the Editors: UAE shows the way, yet again, with its COVID-19 vaccination drive”, Gulf News, April 24). The easily accessible centers and the availability of vaccines have helped residents tremendously. I am so glad to be a part of this fabulous country. The UAE government has also rolled vaccines for children as young as the age of 12. All educational institutions are now safe to return to work. The level of comfort and the sense of confidence the vaccination drive brought about is amazing. People are now safe, confident, and ready to get back to the way things used to be, which just brings a smile to my face! The precautions are enforced strictly, which is why the whole country is now ready to move forward. I, for one, cannot wait to welcome Expo 2020 Dubai!
From Ms Divya Sharma
Dubai
UAE: Applauding the sustainable use of water
Being an avid lover of Nature and the environment, the article on how the UAE uses treated wastewater to supply a humungous 4100 farms, is genuinely commendable (“Abu Dhabi building two massive new pipelines to enable the use of treated wastewater in 4,100 farms”, Gulf News, June 05). The first sentence caught my eye - a country with arid land and beautifully growing 20 per cent of its produce locally. The article is encouraging and motivating, especially the efforts put in by EEG (Emirates Environment Group) under the leadership of co-founder and chairperson Habiba Al Marashi. While the efforts by the various winning organisations and individuals on World Environment Day made me feel glad and proud, what can make this drive even stronger and holistic, is by living this every single day. If we consume natural resources thoughtfully and with sustainability, not only will we do it for ourselves, but we will also gift a more beautiful, healthier, and greener planet to our next generations.
From Ms Shalini Menezes
UAE
Environment for the future
This year's theme for world environmental day is ‘ecosystem restoration’ (“CO2 levels at all-time high an alarming sign”, Gulf News, June 09). It aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and every ocean. Throughout all these years, human interference has largely damaged our environment in various ways, and as a result, we observed climate change. Due to our extensive intervention, now most of the water bodies are polluted by dumping industrial waste and plastic. Polluted oceans endanger not only marine life but also affect oxygen levels in the atmosphere. It is one of the primary reasons for climate change. With the decline in forests, we have lost many different species of both flora and fauna. Deforestation has caused an imbalance in nature and is the main cause of global greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in global warming. The impact of deforestation has also resulted in landslides, a rise in temperatures, and desertification. Our forest is an abundance of wealth, and if we continue to clear them for our benefits, we would be causing more damage to the environment. We can see that there is climate variability. The urban heat island effect is very pronounced. "Urban heat islands" occur when cities replace the natural land cover with dense concentrations of pavement, buildings, and other surfaces that absorb and retain heat. Cutting down trees is a faster phase of urbanisation. Children should be taught young to preserve Nature. It is high time more awareness is created among people towards the protection of Nature. Let us plant more trees and pledge to protect. There should be balance in protecting land as well as water bodies, which are lifelines.
From Mr Eappen Elias
Dubai