Geography of Dubai

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This time-lapse video shows the rate of Dubai's growth at one frame per year from 2000 through 2011. In the false-colour satellite images making up the video, bare desert is tan, plant-covered land is red, water is black and urban areas are silver.
Dune bashing in one of the deserts of Dubai

exclave of the emirate, is surrounded on three sides by Oman and by the emirates of Ajman (in the west) and Ras Al Khaimah (in the north). The Persian Gulf borders the western coast of the emirate. Dubai is positioned at 25°16′11″N 55°18′34″E / 25.2697°N 55.3095°E / 25.2697; 55.3095 and covers an area of 1,588 sq mi (4,110 km2), which represents a significant expansion beyond its initial 1,500 sq mi (3,900 km2) designation due to land reclamation from the sea.[citation needed
]

Dubai lies directly within the Arabian Desert. However, the topography of Dubai is significantly different from that of the southern portion of the UAE in that much of Dubai's landscape is highlighted by sandy desert patterns, while gravel deserts dominate much of the southern region of the country.[1] The sand consists mostly of crushed shell and coral and is fine, clean and white. East of the city, the salt-crusted coastal plains, known as sabkha, give way to a north–south running line of dunes. Farther east, the dunes grow larger and are tinged red with iron oxide.[2]

The flat sandy desert gives way to the Western

Seismically, Dubai is in a very stable zone—the nearest seismic fault line, the Zagros Fault, is 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the UAE and is unlikely to have any seismic impact on Dubai.[3] Experts also predict that the possibility of a tsunami in the region is minimal because the Persian Gulf waters are not deep enough to trigger a tsunami.[3]

Fauna and flora

A view of the Dubai Creek from a harbour

The sandy desert surrounding the city supports wild grasses and occasional date palms. Desert hyacinths grow in the sabkha plains east of the city, while acacia and

green turtle, which are listed as endangered species.[4][5]

Urban areas

Dubai Creek runs northeast–southwest through the city. The eastern section of the city forms the locality of

Port Rashid, Jebel Ali, Burj Al Arab, the Palm Jumeirah and theme-based free-zone clusters such as Business Bay are all located in this section.[6] Dubai is notable for sculpted artificial island complexes including the Palm Islands and The World
archipelago.

Climate

Dubai has a

hot desert climate (Köppen BWh). Summers in Dubai are extremely hot, prolonged, windy, and humid, with an average high around 40 °C (104 °F) and overnight lows around 30 °C (86 °F) in the hottest month, August. Most days are sunny throughout the year. Winters are comparatively cool, though mild to warm, with an average high of 24 °C (75 °F) and overnight lows of 14 °C (57 °F) in January, the coolest month. Precipitation, however, has been increasing in the last few decades, with accumulated rain reaching 110.7 mm (4.36 in) per year.[7] Dubai summers are also known for the very high humidity level, which can make it very uncomfortable for many with exceptionally high dew points in summer. Heat index values can reach over 60 °C (140 °F) at the height of summer.[8]
The highest recorded temperature in Dubai is 48.8 °C (119.8 °F).

Climate data for Dubai (1977–2015 normals)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 31.8
(89.2)
37.5
(99.5)
41.3
(106.3)
43.5
(110.3)
47.0
(116.6)
47.9
(118.2)
48.5
(119.3)
48.8
(119.8)
45.1
(113.2)
42.4
(108.3)
38.0
(100.4)
33.2
(91.8)
48.8
(119.8)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 23.9
(75.0)
25.4
(77.7)
28.9
(84.0)
33.3
(91.9)
37.7
(99.9)
39.8
(103.6)
40.9
(105.6)
41.3
(106.3)
38.9
(102.0)
35.4
(95.7)
30.6
(87.1)
26.2
(79.2)
33.5
(92.3)
Daily mean °C (°F) 19.1
(66.4)
20.5
(68.9)
23.6
(74.5)
27.5
(81.5)
31.4
(88.5)
33.4
(92.1)
35.5
(95.9)
35.9
(96.6)
33.3
(91.9)
29.8
(85.6)
25.4
(77.7)
21.2
(70.2)
28.1
(82.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 14.3
(57.7)
15.5
(59.9)
18.3
(64.9)
21.7
(71.1)
25.1
(77.2)
27.3
(81.1)
30.0
(86.0)
30.4
(86.7)
27.7
(81.9)
24.1
(75.4)
20.1
(68.2)
16.3
(61.3)
22.6
(72.6)
Record low °C (°F) 7.7
(45.9)
7.4
(45.3)
11.0
(51.8)
13.7
(56.7)
15.7
(60.3)
21.3
(70.3)
24.1
(75.4)
24.0
(75.2)
22.0
(71.6)
15.0
(59.0)
10.8
(51.4)
8.2
(46.8)
7.4
(45.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 18.8
(0.74)
25.0
(0.98)
22.1
(0.87)
7.2
(0.28)
0.4
(0.02)
0.0
(0.0)
0.8
(0.03)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
1.1
(0.04)
2.7
(0.11)
16.2
(0.64)
94.3
(3.71)
Average precipitation days 5.5 4.7 5.8 2.6 0.3 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.1 0.2 1.3 3.8 25.3
Mean monthly sunshine hours 251 241 270 306 350 345 332 326 309 307 279 254 3,570
Mean daily sunshine hours 8.1 8.6 8.7 10.2 11.3 11.5 10.7 10.5 10.3 9.9 9.3 8.2 9.8
Source 1: Dubai Meteorological Office[9]
Source 2: UAE National Center of Meteorology[10]

References

  1. ^ Environmental Development and Protection in the UAE Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Aspinall, Simon
  2. ^ "Historic population statistics" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2009. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
  3. ^ a b Far enough from the fault lines. Archived 27 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine The National, 23 April 2008.
  4. ^ Flora and fauna of Dubai Archived 2 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine gowealthy.com
  5. ^ Natural UAE Archived 26 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine UAE Interact. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  6. ^ "Dubai Floor Plan & Area Map". Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Climate in Dubai across the year. Dubai Meteorological office". Dubaiairport.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  8. ^ Al Serkal, Mariam M. (14 July 2016). "64 degrees in Dubai – should you worry?". Gulf News. Dubai. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Climate (Average Temperatures:1977–2015;Precipitation:1967-2009)". Dubai Meteorological Office. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  10. ^ "Climate Yearly Report 2003–2018". UAE National Center of Meteorology NCM. Archived from the original on 15 February 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2019.