Second Tsunami Seminar was held on Sept. 19 in Tehran with the participation of domestic and international experts, Fars news agency reported.
Representatives from UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), State Meteorological Organization, Science Ministry, Natural Disasters Headquarters as well as a number of researchers and university professors took part in the international event held at the National Oceanology Center (NOC).
Speaking on the sidelines of the seminar, NOC chairman, Vahid Chegini, said the center had organized the international confab with the cooperation of the International Research Center for Seismology and Quake Engineering, Natural Disasters Headquarters, National Cartographic Center as well as Geology Organization.
He recalled that after the devastating tsunamis triggered by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake inflicted colossal damages on Southeast Asian states, IOC, WMO and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator decided to put in place tsunami warning systems in vulnerable regions.
The official highlighted that apart from the Indian Ocean, possible earthquakes along Makran Subduction Zone have the potential to generate destructive tsunamis in Sea of Oman, south of Iran.
“Should a tsunami occur in the region, tidal waves could reach Iranian coasts in between 15 and 30 minutes and could inflict irreparable damage on coastal regions.“
Chegini urged that precautionary measures be taken to ward off the hazard.
The official unveiled that a tsunami warning system will be launched in along the Oman Sea coast in Iran, which will be in touch with other centers in Indian Ocean littoral states.
Meanwhile, in an interview with ISNA, Chegini mentioned that tsunamis which occurred in the Sea of Oman 60 years ago (1945) induced great loss of life and devastation along the coasts of Iran and Pakistan.
He regretted that since the disaster had not been properly documented, no facts and figures are available today about how the natural phenomenon affected the country.
The official, however, referred to figures released by Pakistan based on which 4,000 people were killed in southern Pakistan during the 1945 tsunami.
Chegini further noted that the risk of tsunamis is not high in the Persian Gulf due to the shallowness of water, but added the Caspian Sea stands higher risks.
A reported by a researcher with International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology, A. M. Farahbod, there have been two reports of large waves along southern shores of Caspian Sea during the past 400 years. As for the Persian Gulf, only one record is available.

Fatemeh Vaez-Javadi

Chairwoman of the Department of Environment is in Budapest, Hungary, to take part in the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (Forum V) on Sept. 25-29, IRNA quoted DoE’s Public Relations Office as saying.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Fatemeh Vaez-Javadi stated that Iran is a leading country in the region which has exerted sustained and extensive efforts to bolster its capabilities in management and development of chemical safety programs.
The Islamic Republic has begun its endeavors to amend its current regulations, draft new rules as well as adopt policies which conform to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides as well as the Dubai Declaration on International Chemicals Management, she explained.
Vaez-Javadi noted that in line with the same policy, the country has used the Geographic Information System (GIS) to locate proper places in 30 provinces for dumping waste.
“Iran is prepared to share its experiences and know-how with regional countries.“
She went on to say that although chemicals play an important role in today’s life and economy, they can have destructive impacts on the environment as well. “Depletion of the ozone layer, acid rains and global warming are some of the adverse effects,“ she noted.
Referring to thousands of chemicals released into the nature by humans, Vaez-Javadi noted that preventing the negative impacts of chemicals on the environment and human health is an international challenge in need of sound management.
Chemical Safety and Sustainable Development is the theme of Forum V.
The first session of IFCS was held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1994. Heads of UN member states, assembled in Rio de Janeiro for the Earth Summit in 1992, and established a framework for the systematic, cooperative action required to effect the transition to sustainable development. As an important step to strengthening the international cooperation in the chemicals field, governments established the IFCS.

Head of Tehran Department of Environment warned that a ’human disaster’ is likely to unfold in the capital, due to consumption of water contaminated by radioactive substances emanating from hospital waste.
In an interview with Mehr news agency, Shina Ansari explained that non-hygienic burial of hospital waste along with household garbage in Kahrizak landfill can lead to the pollution of water reservoirs mostly used for irrigation of farmlands.
This, in turn, will cause farm crops in Kahrizak region to become polluted.
The official cited the Waste Management Law ratified by the Majlis based on which producers of hazardous healthcare waste are obliged to disinfect and treat them prior to disposal. “In this particular case, the responsibility to ensure hospital wastes are disinfected has been assigned to the Health Ministry.“
She went on to say that the onus to monitor the performance of the ministry falls on the Department of Environment.
Ansari noted that the department has seriously followed up the issue. Hospitals have been mandated to install waste treatment systems as well as cold rooms for keeping waste in low temperatures.
“So far 105 out of 135 hospitals in Tehran are equipped with cold storage rooms.“
The official stated that hospitals which refuse to install equipment needed for safe disposal of waste are referred to judiciary officials.
Ansari warned that the juice coming from hospital waste such as blood and other infectious body fluids as well as radioactive materials is highly dangerous.
She added that a high degree of risk is involved in using water of Kahrizak for irrigation of agricultural lands.
The official urged that samples of water reserves in Kahrizak area be tested for traces of waste pollution.

Presently, 300 villages in Zabol in southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province have been assailed by heavy sandstorms, deputy Zabol governor said.
Alireza Jahantigh told IRNA that these rural areas are in critical condition due to the eight-year drought and harsh sandstorms.
The official explained that massive heaps of sand deposited in every corner have caused numerous problems for locals.
Jahantigh called for allocation of credits to resolve problems facing villagers.
Heavy sandstorms assailing northern regions of Sistan-Baluchestan province for almost 120 days make life difficult for locals.
Scarce rainfall in the area has caused drought to continue in the region for eight years causing 4,000-sq.m. of Hamoun Lake to dry up.
The sandstorms, known as Sistan’s 120-day winds, give a dusty face to the area. The sandstorms start from late April and last through late September every year.
In recent years, sediments piled up in Hamoun Lake in the course of time coupled with massive drought have prolonged the sandstorms to 280 days.

A picturesque view of Abbas Abad region in Behshahr, Mazandaran province. The monument in the water, famous as Abbas Abad Palace, used to be the summer quarters of Shah Abbas, the Safavid king. The monument is submerged during fall and winter when there is heavy precipitation.

Dena heights in Kohkiloyeh-Boyerahmad province

An international scheme was launched for preserving biodiversity across 1,000 hectares of natural terrains and forests in central Zagros region, director general of Kohkiloyeh-Boyerahmad Department of Environment said, IRNA reported.
Jalil Badam-Firouz noted that the initiative aims to preserve local flora and fauna species across a region extended from the east to the west of Dena heights for five years.
Highlighting that the scheme is implemented in two phases, he explained, “In the first phase which lasts for two years, sampling sites are launched in two mountainous villages. The study results would be used for preservation of species in the entire protected region.“
He said the United Nations has earmarked $20 million for the project, adding the Iranian government has disbursed an equal amount.
“In implementing the scheme, we highly rely on participation of local communities and the use of indigenous methods. Researchers would focus on preservation and reproduction of wildlife species, the planning and development of water economy, as well as horticulture,“ he observed.
Badam-Firouz noted the plan is being implemented simultaneously in the provinces of Isfahan, Fars, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari and Kohkiloyeh-Boyerahmad.
According to him, in excess of 20 percent of Zagros forests are located in this province.

Only 80 guards patrol 665,000 hectares of protected regions in Tehran province, director general of provincial Department of Environment said.
In talks with IRNA, Qavameddin Bozorgian noted, “Some 120 environmental guards work for the department, of whom an average 40 are usually off-duty and the remaining 80 should handle the responsibility of watching protected regions. That means every guard should monitor over 8,000 hectares.“
According to him, as per global norms one environmental guard is needed for every 1,000 hectares of natural terrain. “Therefore, above 600 rangers are needed in Tehran to meet the standard,“ he added.
Regarding the minimum education degree required by guards the department employs, he said since 2002, only associate degree holders in the fields of forestry, natural resources and environment have been recruited.
Bozorgian described the responsibilities of rangers as patrolling and identifying the entire protected region, enforcing environmental and hunting rules and regulations as well as chasing and arresting offenders.
He said the guards are also responsible to help with wildlife censuses, prevent poaching, and issue hunting and fishing permits within the area under their protection.

The rate of destruction of the Amazon rain forest is slowing, although ranchers, loggers and soybean farmers continue to illegally remove thousands of square kilometers of trees each year, the Brazilian government said, AP wrote.
The rainforest, as big as Western Europe, lost 16,700 square kilometers between 2005 and 2006, a decrease of 11 percent over the year before, the environment ministry said citing preliminary figures.
“We are now, once again, seeing a declining trend, this shows that it’s not something sporadic, but something that is continuing over many years,“ Environment Minister Marina Silva told reporters in Brasilia. “We have to combat illegal deforestation.“
Silva credited increased law enforcement and stringent environmental regulation. In recent months, the environment ministry and federal police have carried out a series of highly publicized arrests of corrupt environmental protection agency agents accused of falsifying logging certificates to facilitate illegal logging.
The environmental group Greenpeace estimates three-quarters of rainforest logging is illegal, as ranchers ignore regulations requiring landowners to leave 80 percent of forested areas untouched.
Between July 2004 and August 2005, the rainforest lost 18,790 sq.km., the government said.
“We will have two consecutive years with a rate of less than 20,000 sq.km., returning to the levels of the mid-1990s,“ said Joao Paulo Capobianco, the environment ministry’s secretary of biodiversity and forests.
But environmentalists say there is little reason to celebrate, as the world’s largest remaining tropical wilderness continues to be destroyed. “The projection of a reduction of 11 percent would confirm something dramatic: What in the 1990s was the roof is now the floor,“ said Roberto Smeraldi, director of Friends of the Earth Brazil. “Even in a year with a marked reduction of planting crops and clearing pasture, we still have structural deforestation of around 17,000 sq.km. which before was considered a record.“
The highest rate of destruction in the Amazon was 29,000 sq.km. in 1995.
Environmentalists say deforestation has slowed largely because the price of soybeans has declined on the international market and Brazil’s currency has strengthened against the dollar, making it much less profitable to cut down the rainforest to plant grain.
Destroying trees through burning contributes to global warming, releasing about 370 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year--about 5 percent of the world total-- scientists say.
The rainforest covers 60 percent of Brazil. Experts say as much as 20 percent of its 1.6 million square miles has already been destroyed by development, logging and farming.