Every year on August 12, the Caspian Environment Protection Day (Caspian Day) is celebrated in the five Caspian littoral states: Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan.
Sea-news.az reports that the establishment of this environmental date is related to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (the “Tehran Convention”), which was signed in 2003 and entered into legal force on August 12, 2006. The document is the first legal agreement providing for the protection of the marine environment from pollution, the sustainable use of biological resources, and the conduct of environmental monitoring in the region.
On August 12, 2018, at the Fifth Summit held in Aktau, Kazakhstan, the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea was signed, opening a new stage in regional cooperation.
Over the past 200 years, the water level in the Caspian Sea has risen and fallen 3 times. The sharpest drop was recorded between 1930 and 1977 (nearly 3 meters), and the latest rise rate between 1978 and 1995 (2.5 meters).
Observations show that the level of the Caspian Sea rises every 200–250 years. The last highest level was observed in 1805.
The amplitude difference has exceeded 4 meters; currently, the sea level is even lower than minus 29 meters according to the Baltic height system. According to experts’ forecasts, the water level may drop by another 1–1.5 meters. It is projected that this process will stop toward the middle of the century (between 2040 and 2050) and the re-rising phase will begin.
