TEHRAN – The amount of rainfall in the country has decreased by 26 and 16 percent, respectively, compared to last year’s long-term average, and the previous water year.

Since the beginning of autumn which is the start of the current water year, an average of 118 mm of rain has been recorded nationwide, IRIB quoted Ahad Vazifeh, head of the national center for drought and crisis management, as saying.

The long-term average recorded last year was equal to 141 mm.

Fars, Hormozgan, Kerman, Semnan, Khorasan Razavi, Qazvin, Alborz, Tehran, Lorestan, and Kohgiluyeh–Boyerahmad provinces have had low rainfall.

Kerman, Qazvin, Tehran, and Alborz provinces have received 50, 39, 33, and 34 percent less rainfall than the long-term average, he further noted.

Mazandaran, Golestan, Kuodestan, and Sistan-Baluchestan provinces have recorded more rainfall compared to the long-term average.

Vazifeh went on to say that the average temperature of the country has been 13.3 °C since the beginning of fall, September 23, which compared to the three-year period figure,11.3 °C, shows the temperature has increased by 2 °C over time.

Since the beginning of winter, the temperature has been 9.1 degrees, while it had been 7.1 degrees in long-term average. The last two months of the fall this year were the hottest months on record in the past 50 years, Vazifeh added.

Disrupting rainfall

Climate change rather than regional factors is responsible for disrupting rainfall patterns in the country, Darioush Gol-Alizadeh, head of the national center for weather and climate change affiliated with the Department of Environment, has said.

He made the remarks on Wednesday in the first scientific seminar on the role of probable factors in lowering the volume of rainfalls in the country.

“Climate change and air pollution are closely interlinked. Air pollution can lead to an increase in greenhouse gases on a macro level, as in the first half of the year, we are often dealing with sand and dust storms,” he added.

In December 2023, the Department of Environment (DOE) asked its subsidiaries to carry out a detailed study on climate change and its causes due to the decrease in annual precipitation, particularly this year.

Despite the Meteorological Organization’s forecasts that there would be adequate autumn rainfall, the amount of rainfall reported has been very low, IRNA reported.

Ali Salajeqeh, head of DOE, asked the Office for Marine Environment and Wetlands, the National Climate Change Research Center, and the Environmental Research Institute to cooperate and investigate the causes of low rainfall this year.

Climate change

In recent years, the issue of climate change has even become one of the major political issues of the world so the United Nations and many other governments have gotten involved in this issue.

On the other hand, there has been a noticeable decrease in the amount of snowfall in the country and a change in the pattern of precipitation from snow to rain can be seen. But the total amount of rainfall has decreased as well.

MT/MG