Tehran, Iran, Feb. 27
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Statistics show that over the past two decades, precipitation in Iran has decreased by 10 percent, Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian said.
Over the same period, the average temperature in Iran increased 1.5 degrees Celsius and 25 billion cubic meter of water resources evaporated, he added, Mehr news agency reported February 27.
“The volume of running water has decreased 20 percent and the feed that goes into groundwater is down by 15 percent.”
According to the minister, the snow line – the minimum altitude where snow piles up in mountains – has increased by 200 meters, and the melting of snow has shifted to one month sooner than before.
Chitchian also said that in some areas in Iran the depth of wells has reached 500 meters in places where it used to be only 20 meters two decades ago.