Ahwaz; where the weather and flames compete

I was in Ahwaz for a few days. This city is the center for Kuzistan province fifty minutes fly from Tehran. My arrival was indeed a surprise for my body as the temperature was around 47 degrees Celsius according to the plane crew, which was believed to be much less that the actual heat level. It felt like having a huge hair dryer all around your body! Ahwaz is in fact our capital for oil and has a very giant oilfield underneath itself that has been producing in full force since around 100 years ago and yet still you can see drilling rigs in the city sometimes close to residential blocks!
Anyway, my flight back to Tehran was just around the end of Iran-Bahrain soccer game in which Iran won the permission for world cup finals in Germany next year. When I arrived at Ahwaz airport got my boarding pass and wanted to enter the security check room, I noticed something surprising; the entire security personnel were away from their post watching the match with awaiting passengers in the transit hall!
The moment of take off is always inspiring for me and a this time from Ahwaz at night, I made myself busy watching the flames of burning gases on top of oil wells. There were hundreds, as far as the eye could see. Those gas molecules had been waiting for some million years to rush out and wave me goodbye passionately as flames giving birth to some carbon dioxide molecules to start a new long journey, they are back to atmosphere after such a long time of burial down the earth. Who knows, may be next time I come to Ahwaz, I can meet those molecules when I drink milk for breakfast.

Comments

[kl]

Hmmm...people constantly living in front of burning wells - can they somehow evolve, become genetically mutant, etc, so that they can breathe in carbon-dioxide. But, then CO2 is quite stable, not easy to break down and thus can't be converted to energy. Any sulphur/sulphur compounds produced by those wells?
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Behi: I think they do :-(

[kl]

Oh! come now Mr.Behi, don't be sad. I think it's rather interesting, don't you think? Some human beings in this world will become like those bacteria that live in those geologic/thermal vents under the sea and survive on sulphur/CO2 :-). I don't know what it is like in Iran. In India, we use fresh food all the time (hardly any processed; and GM-food is still not there), but I think Indians will become/becoming mutant because of the heavy pollution. In the USA, there is not that much pollution but I think people will become mutant because of all these processed food, GM-food. I wonder whether any true research is going on the long term effects of all these on humans and whether any gene-change/mutation happening. I guess too early to see all these changes.

But, now that I think, I think you are right about all those sad faces. I find that lots and lots of young children suffering from cancer or born with cancer in the USA :-( :-(.....and that's really really heartbreaking :-( :-(:-(.....

[Don Cox]

Genetic modification has nothing to do with processing. Almost all the food you eat is genetically modified compared to the original wild animals and plants, but by a slow method of breeding and artificial selection. The new GM methods only speed up the rate of change.

Processing, on the other hand, may add various chemicals such as preservatives and dyes to the food, and damage useful chemicals such as vitamins. The same applies to cooking. To avoid this, kill your own animals, pick your own fruit, and eat them raw. Trouble is, raw meat can contain parasites - that's why we cook it.