Iran's Capital Is Moving. The Reason Is an Ecological Catastrophe
- Reference: 0180173843
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/11/22/0052243/irans-capital-is-moving-the-reason-is-an-ecological-catastrophe
- Source link:
> Amid a deepening ecological crisis and acute water shortage, Tehran [1]can no longer remain the capital of Iran , the country's president has said. The situation in Tehran is the result of "a perfect storm of climate change and corruption," says Michael Rubin, a political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. "We no longer have a choice," said Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian during a speech on Thursday. Instead Iranian officials are considering moving the capital to the country's southern coast. But experts say the proposal does not change the reality for the nearly 10 million people who live in Tehran and are now suffering the consequences of a decades-long decline in water supply.
Iran's capital has moved many times over the centuries, notes the report. "But this marks the first time the Iranian government has moved the capital because of an ecological catastrophe." Yet, Rubin says, "it would be a mistake to look at this only through the lens of climate change" and not factor in the water, land, and wastewater mismanagement and corruption that have made the crisis worse.
Linda Shi, a social scientist and urban planner at Cornell University, says: "Climate change is not the thing that is causing it, but it is a convenient factor to blame in order to avoid taking responsibility" for poor political decisions.
[1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/irans-capital-has-run-out-of-water-forcing-it-to-move/
Re: (Score:2)
No they won't. Trump will simply move his Gold House to Aspen, CO. Problem solved.
Indonesia also (Score:3)
[1]https://www.theguardian.com/wo... [theguardian.com]
Indonesia moving its capital city for the same reason, decades of the local population and government using an excessive amount of water combined with all the disease from no building codes and mass corruption.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/29/nusantara-indonesias-planned-new-political-capital-explained-in-30-seconds
Re: (Score:2)
Islam, the government of champions.
Re: Indonesia also (Score:3)
The U.S. famously has Flint Michigan and rampant lead and pfas pollution that will never go away. But, I get it, for a moment you can have the sweet feeling of superiority through no fault of your own.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, but a lot of that stuff is created by Jews, and the budget is devoted to killing Jews, not making the desert green.
Tipping point (Score:3, Insightful)
No, not that one.
The one I mean is when the argument switches from "climate change is a hoax, stupid hippy" to "Nothing we can do, climate change. Sucks to be you."
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Tell me you didn't read the article past the first few lines without telling me you didn't read the article:
> Yet, Rubin says, "It would be a mistake to look at this only through the lens of climate change." Water, land, and wastewater mismanagement and corruption have made the crisis worse, he says.
Yah, they leave it to the last paragraph, but it's not like it's a long article. Even [1] CNN mentioned his back in July [cnn.com]:
> Human activities, including excessive groundwater pumping, inefficient farming practices and unchecked urban water use have pushed the region âoetoward what can only be described as water bankruptcy,â said Amir AghaKouchak, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine.
But yah, climate change is a much better way to avoid those responsible to account.
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/31/climate/tehran-iran-water-crisis-day-zero/
Re: (Score:1)
Go back to your pre-drug days so you can learn what 8 is for all over again.
Re: (Score:1)
Climate change is a participant in their water supply problem, but not the sole cause.
So it's kind of like how Trump is president (Score:1)
Yeah you could for example point at the trans panic as the reason why Trump is President not once but twice because without that moral panic he couldn't have won but you'd also have to ignore all the voter suppression cheating and the sabotage the Republicans have done to the economy and the Republicans packing the courts allowing Trump to commit multiple crimes and get away with it and and and...
The Democrats insisting on running a woman when the country has made it crystal clear that they do not want