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At present time two main problems for Caspian Sea are: level fluctuations and its ecological condition. Historically, the transgressions and regressions of the Caspian Sea influenced the regional living and production. Based on the geological, historical and archeological data, as well as the measured data, the geological and historical variability, yearly and seasonal changes, and short-term fluctuations are studied in this paper. In addition, this paper reviews two different methodologies that explain the reasons for the level fluctuations of the Caspian Sea. The results indicate that the Caspian Sea level changes should be considered as a multistage process, which is affected by geological factors, hydro-climatic factors and water balance, as well as anthropogenic factors, and the hydro-climatic changes are the dominant influence on the Caspian Sea level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of wind wave hindcast for the Caspian Sea for the period of 1979-2017 are presented. The WAVEWATCHIII wave model and wind forcing from the NCEP/CFSR reanalysis are used. The modeling is performed on the unstructured grid with the spacing to 1 km in the coastal zone. Mean and extreme values of wave height, length, and period are provided. It is shown that the maximum height of waves of 3% probability of exceedance is 11.7 m. The interannual variability of wave parameters is analyzed. No unambiguous trend towards increase or decrease in the storm activity was revealed over the hindcasting period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism industry growth in many regions of the world, along with the positive and negative economic and social consequences, has environmental impacts leading to irreversible damage. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of the tourism industry on municipal solid waste amounts especially plastics in Nowshahr City, Northern Iran. The physical components of solid waste were determined based on a simple random sampling method. The samples were collected during a one-year study period (from spring 2015 to winter 2016). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was performed to determine the normality of data distribution. Also, the One-Way ANOVA and Tukey tests were implemented to investigate significant differences between the seasons. The Delphi-AHP method was used to find the main criteria of solid waste increasing or the tourism effects reducing. The result showed that plastic (15.98%) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles (11.42%) constituted the highest physical components of solid wastes in the study period. The highest amounts of PET and plastic wastes were observed in the summer, exhibiting significant difference than in the winter (p < 0.05). The results showed that amount of waste in Nowshahr is completely influenced by the number of tourists, irregular presence of tourists throughout the year and season. Also, the lack of environmental awareness in the region has led to the accumulation of significant amounts of recyclable waste such as plastic. The result indicated that the importance of knowledge about the amount of produced wastes in managing and reducing environmental effects in tourism areas. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the public education and culture regarding to the separation of wstes from the source and also recycling the solid wastes as well as the public participation in study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes Ursula Biemann’s video essay Black Sea Files as an experiment in training the viewer to perceive large-scale, transnational networks of capital, human displacement, and ecological destruction. Reacting against the norms of Western media, Biemann constructs a regime of pity that motivates the viewer to act on the suffering of distant others by shifting the mode of presentation between the local and the global, exposing and interrogating Western space-time mediations of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project, and figuring agency within the project as diffuse. These mediation techniques train the viewer to engage more deeply with the content being presented, expose transnational networks of agency and responsibility within human displacement and ecological destruction, and render visible new participatory positions within those systems that offer more potential for meaningful action and resistance. The subject of a transnational oil pipeline proves fertile ground for the interrogation of the transnational networks that impact the planet and its various ecologies, and the video essay proves a powerful tool in rendering those networks visible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main components ofthe Caspian Sea water balance and water level are assessed. Stochastic models of time series of the water balance components are proposed ustng morphometric dependences specified by creating and processing digital elevation models for the flooded areas. The sea level forecast is obtained by the method of simulation modeling based on algorithms for the generation of Markovian random sequences with non-Gaussian marginal distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An eddy-resolving model of the thermohydrodynamics of the Caspian Sea is presented. The model reproduces the climatic (decadal) variability of the sea level. Numerical experiments were performed to reconstruct the sea circulation and the evolution of its level in the second half of the 20th century. We also investigate how variations in some natural and anthropogenic factors influencing the Caspian Sea water balance impact the long-term trends of its level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Climate data from the southwest coast of the Caspian Sea ( CS) were statistically analysed to find connections with large-scale atmospheric variabilities and regional impacts. The study area is characterized by a subtropical humid climate. This enclave of high precipitation is extremely important for Iranian food production and is recognized for its high biodiversity. The data sets were investigated for inconsistencies before carrying out the main investigations, and several problems have been identified. The results show three distinct climatic periods in the temperature time series since 1956: 1956 to 1975 with values near to the overall mean, 1977 to 1995 with values lower by 0.5 °C and from 1996 to 2010 with values higher by 0.5 °C. These periods can be positively correlated with rapid sea level changes of the CS. Moreover, an agreement exists between the three climatic periods and the North Atlantic Oscillation ( NAO) variability. The sea surface temperature of the southern CS is shown to be the driving force of the 2 m temperatures in the study area. While temperature changes are in accordance with NAO variability, the precipitation variations show connections with ENSO and less with NAO. The trends of precipitation during the period are diverse but display mostly a weak decrease, while the trends of temperature display a clear increase, larger than that for global mean temperatures, overlaid with inter-decadal variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]