Thursday , 28 March 2024

Environment

Iran Hit by Heavy Rains, Flooding Disrupts Communication Routes

Iranwire – Torrential downpours in several Iranian provinces have caused widespread disruption as floodwater blocked communication routes in dozens of villages. Authorities have issued warnings about rising water levels at several dams, and flooding has already begun in some areas. On Monday, the Iranian Meteorological Organization issued red warnings for Khuzestan, Lorestan, Kohgiluyeh, and Boyer Ahmad provinces, while 15 others …

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Iran Among Countries Facing High Water Scarcity

VOA – The United Nations said in its yearly report on water access that the world is “facing a water crisis” and listed Iran as one of the countries experiencing “extremely high water stress.” The U.N. World Water Development Report issued this week ahead of World Water Day, observed Friday, said that in the two decades ending in 2021, droughts …

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Tehran Court Rejects Parole for Environmental Activists After 6 Years in Jail

Iranwire – A court in the Islamic Republic has declined the parole request of four incarcerated environmental activists, their lawyer said.  Lawyer Hojjat Kermani, representing Homan Jokar, Sepideh Kashani, Niloofar Bayani, and Taher Qadirian, said the request was rejected within a day.  Commenting on the decision, Kermani said, “After years of waiting, the case had finally reached court for parole …

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Iranian Government Sends Ballot Boxes to Flooded Province—Instead of Aid

Iranwire – Ballot boxes have been delivered to impoverished areas grappling with floods in Sistan and Baluchistan province even though Islamic Republic government agencies have yet to provide any aid or relief after five days of flooding. After heavy rain and flooding in the restive province, 387 villages are still flooded, with more than 110,000 people displaced or in other …

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Cold Weather in Iran Brings Gas Shortages, School Closures

Iranwire – Iran is facing record-breaking gas consumption, as a new cold wave sweeps across the country.  Snow, rain and freezing temperatures have forced school closures in several provinces.  While officials cite the cold weather as the reason for the closures, media outlets suggest they are due to gas shortages impacting heating systems.  On February 28, schools in Markazi, South …

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Oil-Slick From Cargo Ship Attacked by Iranian-Backed Houthis Growing

VOA – An attack by Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels on a Belize-flagged ship earlier this month caused a 29-kilometer (18-mile) oil slick, the U.S. military said Saturday. It also warned of the danger of a spill from the vessel’s cargo of fertilizer. The Rubymar, a British-registered, Lebanese-operated cargo vessel, was attacked on Feb. 18 while sailing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, …

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Air Pollution Behind Nearly 14 Percent of Natural Deaths in Iran

Iranwire – Iran’s Ministry of Health has attributed a staggering 13.9 percent of all natural deaths in the country to air pollution.  “Tehran ranks 19th among the world’s worst capitals in terms of concentration of suspended particles,” Abbas Shahsavani, who heads the ministry’s air health and climate change group, told Tasnim news agency on January 16. According to him, the …

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Expert Calls Iran’s Dried Lake Urmia An ‘Ecological Disaster’

iranintl – Water management researcher Aida Tavakoli calls the current condition of Lake Urmia “an ecological disaster” as the Middle East’s once second largest lake disappears. Tavakoli blamed the shrinking on several factors including mismanagement, drought, and increased water diversion for irrigated agriculture within the lake’s watershed. “Like all totalitarian regimes, food self-sufficiency has been a core priority of the …

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€500m Titanium Mining Project Feared To Be Destroying Iran’s Lake Urmia

iranintl – Videos have shown trucks around Lake Urmia allegedly carrying titanium, sparking fears its mining may be destroying the Middle East’s once largest lake. Iran Briefing, a group of investigative journalists, have speculated that authorities have been mining titanium, present in the northwestern lake, which could explain why the once thriving salt-lake has dried up.  Although there has been no official response …

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Fears Of Another Mismanaged Earthquake Tragedy Loom In Iran

iranintl – Twenty years since a 6.6-magnitude earthquake shook Bam city in southeast Iran, killing 34,000, fears of a repeat loom large amid Iran’s dire corruption.  Earthquake mortality has been found to be higher in countries where corruption is high and in the past 30 years, 83% of all earthquake-related deaths have occurred in anomalously corrupt countries, according to a 2011 report. …

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