Climate March in New York

A Clarion Call for Action

Sunday 21 September 2014; New York City

Photo: The New York Times

Another Dust Storm over Tehran

Another huge dust storm hits Tehran today at sunset, 6 June 2014

Photo credit: twitter/@GaryLewisUN

Spraying Water on Tehran Produces No Change

Iran’s Environment Protection Organization (IEPO) sprayed water on suffocating Tehran on Tuesday. The experiment was to shake up the atmosphere to produce rain or create artificial wind corridors to blow the thick haze away. Iran’s Mehr news agency reports that water spraying by five pesticide planes did not produce any changes.

“When there are no clouds, how could they even think they could produce rain by impregnating non-existent clouds?” said Majid Abbaspour, the dean of Tehran’s Scientific Research University’s School of Energy and Environment. “And any possible effects on diluting the air pollution would have been at most very temporary” [Mehr News Agency, 9 December].

Hassan Aslian, the former director of IEPO, said the experiment could have produced dangerous acid “rain.”

“Carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, the most dangerous component of the air pollution in the city, in high densities mixed with water could produce acid rain over the city,” Aslian said [Mehr News Agency, 9 December].

Meanwhile, the air quality situation in the Iranian capital remains as alarming and dangerous for the third consecutive week.

Photo: Mehr News Agency

Planes to Spray Water Over Suffocating Tehran

Iran's Environment Protection Organization (IEPO) will start spraying water on Tehran, the suffocating capital of Iran, to dilute the city’s air pollution that has reached alarming and dangerous levels in recent days. The worsening situation forced the closure of offices and schools in the last few days.

IEPO Director Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh told reporters in Tehran that 10 airplanes will sprinkle water over the city on Monday or Tuesday. He added that IEPO’s researchers are trying to find ways to shake up the atmosphere to produce rain or create artificial wind corridors to blow the thick haze away [Fars News Agency, 6 December].

According to a research carried out by the IEPO and the Tehran Municipality, over 80 percent of the air pollution is due to the 3.5 million automobiles plying the almost permanently clogged streets in the Iranian capital [Press TV, 6 December].

The geographical location of Tehran, wedged between mountains, is also a contributing factor in the pollution's chronic choke of Tehran.

Photo: Press TV

Gasoline Price Set to Increase by 700% - UPDATE

Iran’s minister of economy said today in Tehran that as part of the government subsidy reforms and their removals, the price of gasoline will be set at 700 toumans a liter ($2.52 a gallon). This would be a 700% increase in the price. The removal of energy sector subsidies, including the gasoline, was expected to go into effect last week, but has been postponed without any explanations or any dates for their implementations. The comments by the minister of economy was an indications that the subsidy removals will indeed take place.

Source: Kayhan, 1 December 2010

UPDATE- ISNA reported on Thursday that the minister of economy has denied Kayhan's story. We understand that Kayhan will reject the denial and would insist that the minister made the remarks on tape.

Uskowi: The story, the denial, and the expected rejection of the denial are an example of the early mismanagement of subsidy reforms. The government has not published any details on the program or any date certain for the start of its first phase, and different ministers in the past four months have offered their own understanding of the program, often contradicting each other. The fear is the mismanagement on the part of the government would hurt the chances of success of a program vital to the country's economic development.

Pollution: Tehran Shut Down

The Iranian authorities today shut down the country's capital, closing down all offices, schools and shops due to extreme levels of air pollution. The visibility in Tehran is reportedly near zero. The authorities also said that the closing of the offices and schools might be extended beyond today and into next week.

Photos: Amir Kholoosi, ISNA

15.8 Gallons per Month

The Iranian government today announced a monthly gasoline ration of 15.8 gallons (60 liters) per car. The ration was set for the month of Mehr (21 September- 20 October). The ration for subsequent months will be set in future.