In a shocking twist, building giant sand islands can change an ecosystem.
Environmentalists have criticized many Dubai megaprojects, but perhaps none moreso than the Palm Islands. The massive dredging required to build the island has drastically changed the wave, temperature, and erosion patterns in the Persian Gulf, and a whole square mile of coral was killed. Developers dropped two American fighter jets on the seafloor to create new reefs, and claim that Palm Jumeirah's breakwater will continue to bring more marine life to the area, but the World Wildlife Fund still insists that the UAE is "five times more unsustainable than any other country" on Earth.