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Dubai: Poor air quality

It's a desert (dust) and there are a lot of cars and not so many trees and there is also moisture as a bonus...
In combination with low winds the air quality can get into these unhealthy areas...
From my experience and my monitoring of the app, Air Quality in Dubai is usually rated as "average" with score in range between 60 and 120...

If this bothers you there are several things you could do (apart from moving from Dubai to another less crowded emirate or leaving UAE entirely):
  1. live on a higher floor as there is more wind and less dust in general
  2. get an air filter that would improve air quality indoors (cars already have it so you're covered there as well) and this will significantly lower your exposure to bad particles...
  3. move to Al Barari (greenest part of Dubai but also quite expensive)

Things related to respiratory diseases are cumulative and it takes time for the issues to develop.

So investing in good air filter that will clean up air at least where you sleep will reduce your exposure for about 30% (if you sleep average 8hours/day) is one of the best investments in your health in general. It's a very long term game and you can't see any quick results... Actually, you won't notice anything buy your lungs will..
 
I have been regularly monitoring the air quality for Dubai for a few months now and each time it is at unhealthy. Can anyone on the ground confirm that it is not a good idea to move to Dubai with slightly compromised lungs (bronchitis)?

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Does the air quality in Dubai get better in winter months? What if one decides to spend Oct-April in Dubai and escape the summer months? Hard to find one place that checks off all requirements year round.
 
Yes, definitely the weather in winter months is better, looking less pollute. You can see often clear skies and stars. It's a desert here, yesterday was very windy and the sand was flying with a high speed. But it's rarely like this, I can't remember if the sandstorm was there last year, maybe once or twice. Someone provided American Consulate location as a guideline to weather quality measurement. It's definitely not correct to look at this like that. Those are old parts of Dubai and you rarely see western expats living there. Few years back when UAE was publishing air quality index from local stations, you could see that the areas around Al Karama / Bur Dubai / Creek were the MOST polluted (PSI 120) but the areas heavily occupied by western expats such as Emirates Hills / Meadows / Springs had PSI of 50 on exactly the same days.

When they are burning trees in Sumatra, Singapore gets 300+ PSI. I remember you could find a mask in your mailbox on such days.

As for the health concerns and whether the air purifiers help to live 100+ years, I have no idea. I know some 100+ years old grandmas in Eastern Europe having a pack of cigarettes every day and a shot of vodka for better sleep, they are hard to kill it seems :) Maybe they kill the pollutants with pollutants lol.
 
Yes, definitely the weather in winter months is better, looking less pollute. You can see often clear skies and stars. It's a desert here, yesterday was very windy and the sand was flying with a high speed. But it's rarely like this, I can't remember if the sandstorm was there last year, maybe once or twice. Someone provided American Consulate location as a guideline to weather quality measurement. It's definitely not correct to look at this like that. Those are old parts of Dubai and you rarely see western expats living there. Few years back when UAE was publishing air quality index from local stations, you could see that the areas around Al Karama / Bur Dubai / Creek were the MOST polluted (PSI 120) but the areas heavily occupied by western expats such as Emirates Hills / Meadows / Springs had PSI of 50 on exactly the same days.

When they are burning trees in Sumatra, Singapore gets 300+ PSI. I remember you could find a mask in your mailbox on such days.

As for the health concerns and whether the air purifiers help to live 100+ years, I have no idea. I know some 100+ years old grandmas in Eastern Europe having a pack of cigarettes every day and a shot of vodka for better sleep, they are hard to kill it seems :) Maybe they kill the pollutants with pollutants lol.
Yeah, the forest burning in Singapore is harsh. Without masks you literally cannot breathe outside after like 15mins.
 
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The air quality is not that bad actually but generally weather reports(forecast and air quality) don't work well in this region. They forecast 30-50 rainy days every year in Dubai but obviously, it won't happen. UAE life expectancy is also 78 years which is similar to the US.
True, forget the air quality index.
Sometimes temperature is not accurate on this so called weather website. It is true for all city not only for Dubai.

Let's assume usa consulate area is bad. Dubai is big , you can choose another area like al barari to live


Al barari area is cleanest and greenest area with good air quality. If you have problem with usa consulate area, you can move to al barari.
 
True, forget the air quality index.
Sometimes temperature is not accurate on this so called weather website. It is true for all city not only for Dubai.

Let's assume usa consulate area is bad. Dubai is big , you can choose another area like al barari to live


Al barari area is cleanest and greenest area with good air quality. If you have problem with usa consulate area, you can move to al barari.
is there an air quality monitoring station in Al barari that you can view live?
 
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