Three Gorges Dam: Disaster in the Making?

 

Article Overview:
Three Gorges Dam is the largest dam on the face of the planet. Its a magnificient construction project in terms of design and output but the environmental and sociological impacts may cause excessive devastation to the surrounding area.

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An engineering marvel, currently under construction in China, will be the largest water conservation project of its kind. Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest dam, doubling as a control for flood prevention and a hydroelectric power plant, being built along the Yangtze River. For generations China has contemplated the idea of building a dam to stretch across the mile width river. Since 1954, teams of scientists and engineers have developed the plan, design and consulting work of the dam (TED). In 1993, the Three Gorges Dam became reality when construction began. The dam is a major engineering project and another step forward in continuing to keep the boosted Chinese economy. This highly controversial construction project will have many positive and negative effects on the Chinese landscape and environment.

It is expected that the costly $180 billion dollar construction project will provide an electrical output that will be forty percent higher than that of the current largest operating dam (TED). Three Gorges Dam’s hydroelectric output “will generate 84.7 billion kilowatts of electricity each year — the equivalent of what it takes to light the counties of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento” (Neighbors). The dam’s use of hydropower, a renewable source of energy, to generate electricity will help replace the burning of fossil fuels. This will support the environment against the world’s growing global warming problem. The plant’s output will be equivalent to several large coal-fired plants (TGD Hyrdoelectric). “[Three Gorges Dam] will reduce the country’s annual coal usage by 50 million metric tons, therefore diminishing a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions” (Water).

Along with efficient energy output, the Three Gorges Dam was designed to have other valuable effects. Throughout history, the Yangtze River has flooded and caused much devastation to its surrounding landscape. In 1954, the river had a major flood that killed more than 30,000 people and left a million homeless (Water). The last major flood, occurring in 1998, was a battle fought by about 6.7 million people and hundreds of thousands of soldiers but the floods still killed 1,526 people (China). The Three Gorges Dam is viewed most importantly in helping to prevent further flooding from occurring. Along with the large loss of life due to flooding, vast areas of flooded farmland have hurt the agricultural landscape and economy surrounding the Yangtze River (Qing).

The Yangtze River is an important shipping route through China because many industries and farmlands are located along the banks. With deepened waters, navigation through the reservoir will be improved for cargo ships. A lock system that takes four hours for each ship to complete has been installed to bypass the dam’s water level difference. The Yangtze River, known to have been dangerous to navigate through prior to the construction of Three Gorges Dam, will now be safer and easier travel.

Along with positive effects associated with the construction of Three Gorges Dam, comes negative environmental impacts that have been a nuisance to the surrounding land and people. Three Gorges Dam has created a large 370 mile-long reservoir at 525 feet deep (TED). This reservoir has overtaken many of the lands that previously existed along the riverbank. These lands include many towns, villages and archaeological sites. Since this project began, 1.4 million people have already been relocated to new homes due to their land being overtaken by water. Many more people are expected to be moved as the waters continually rise higher. The continually rising reservoir water has caused erosion to the surrounding land which in return has induced land slides and river bank collapses.

Including the overtaken towns and villages, the waters have taken over old factories, mines and waste dumps. Debris from these sites has caused a large pollution problem in the reservoir’s water because “the dammed river is less able to disperse pollutants effectively” (TGD Hyrdroelectric). The decline of clean fresh water has already proved to have an impact in the area’s freshwater fishing industry. Annual catches may be reduced by one million tons due to the lack of fresh water and sediment reaching the sea (TGD Hydroelectric). Certain types of toxic algae have begun spreading in the water. These algae feed off of the sewage and waste contaminating the water (Yang).

The natural ecosystem which has occurred along the river for as long as life has existed came to an immediate stop upon construction of Three Gorges Dam. Along with waste and debris building up at the dam wall, essential silt will be stopped at the dam wall as well. This silt is an important component of nature in providing nutrients for the land and wildlife further down the river. The riverbanks downstream from the dam are also at potential risk for erosion and damage because the silt is a necessary component in the composition of the land. Not only will the material build up at the dam wall and cause stress on it, debris could cause dam failure by blocking the turbine’s entrance.

At how much of cost, both environmentally and socially, is a dam of this scale worth? “Over a million people have been moved from their homes to make way for the project and more than 1,200 towns and villages will disappear under its rising waters” (TGD Wall). The high price tag of construction and everlasting environmental effects of such a project may make Three Gorges Dam a forever mistake for the Chinese Government and its people. While intended for positive productivity and effects, the visible negative consequences have been a tough issue to handle so far. With construction expected to be complete in the year 2009, time will only tell if the effort was worth all of the problems of such a major construction effort.

Work Cited:

China Three Gorges Project. 2002. China Three Gorges Project Corporation.
21 Jan. 2008. <http://www.ctgpc.com/>.

Neighbors wary of China’s Three Gorges Dam. Audra Ang. 30 Dec. 2007. MSNBC.
21 Jan. 2008. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22441313/>.

Qing, Dai. The River Dragon Has Come!: The Three Gorges Dam and the Fate of
China’s Yangtze River and it’s People. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1998.

TED Case Studies: Three Gorges Dam. 1 November. 1997. American University.
21 Jan. 2008. <http://american.edu/TED/threedam.htm>.

Three Gorges Dam. 2007. International Rivers. 21 Jan. 2008.
<http://www.internationalrivers.org/node/356>.

Three Gorges Dam Hydroelectric Power Plant, China. 2007. SPG Media Limited.
21 Jan. 2008. <http://www.power-technology.com/projects/gorges/>.

Three Gorges Dam wall completed. 20 May 2006. BBC News. 2 Jan. 2008.
 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5000092.stm>.

“Water Issues in China”. Fall 2007. Standford Spice Digest. Accessed
Online 14 Jan 2008. < http://iis-db.stanford.edu/docs/113/10000shovelswater.pdf>.

Yang, Lin. “China’s Three Gorges Dam Under Fire”. 12 Oct. 2007. Time. Accessed
Online 14 Jan 2008. <http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1671000,00.html>.

This paper was written by myself, Brent Willis, for an English class at The Ohio State University.

1 comment February 8th, 2008

Desolate Landscapes of the Desert

 

Deserts are defined as large areas of land that receive very little precipation which in return limits the amount of life desert’s support. Deserts, which cover a third of the land on Earth, receive an annual precipitation of less than 25 cm per year. Not all of the desert’s landscape is barren though. While much of the wildlife and plants are sparse, the plant life is very diverse. Plants are able to survive in this climate by maintaining two special features. These features include the ability to collect and store water and the ability to reduce water loss.

Most envision deserts to be fiercely hot with a relentless sun, but this is not always true. Many deserts are hot during the day and cold at night while others are constantly cold like the Gobi Desert in Asia. The following list some unique facts that you may find interesting.

• The world’s largest desert is the Sahara Desert (3 million square miles).
• The highest temperature ever recorded, 136.4 degrees F, was recorded in Libya in the Sahara Desert.
• The world’s largest cold desert is the Antarctica desert.
• In the United States, there are four main deserts; Mojave, Great Basin, Chihuahuan, and the Sonoran Deserts.
• The highest sand dune ever measured was an incredible height of 1,410 feet high.
• The tallest recorded cactus was found to be 57 feet, 11 inches high in Arizona.

Add comment December 12th, 2007

Massive Ice: Glaciers Facts

Interesting Glacier Facts: 

How much of Earth is covered with glaciers?
Roughly 10% of Earth is covered in glacier ice.

How much of Earth’s fresh water do glaciers hold?
Glaciers hold a suprising 75% of the world’s fresh water.

Why do glaciers appear to be blue?
Glaciers appear to be blue because ice asorbs all other colors and reflects blue.

Why don’t we use glaciers for a fresh water source?
In matter of fact, we do use glaciers for fresh water. In the state of Washington alone, glaciers provide 1.7 trillion gallons of water each summer due to melting.

What would happen if all the glaciers melted?
If the glaciers melted, the world’s sea level would rise by 230 feet.

For more information about glaciers, please visit National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Add comment November 21st, 2007

Exploding Facts about Volcanoes

Interesting Volcano Facts:

How many active volcanoes are there on Earth?
There are roughly 1500 active volcanoes on Earth. Scientists know of about 80 that are under the world’s oceans.

What is the purpose of volcanoes?
Volcanoes are important to our planet. They can be considered “Earth’s safety valve” because they release the pressure that builds up inside our planet.

Where did the name “volcano” come from?
The origin of the name “volcano” came from ancient Greek mythology from the name Vulcan, god of fire.

Where is the world’s largest active volcano?
The world’s largest active volcano is Mauna Loa in Hawaii. It rises 13,677 feet above sea level. Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that form Hawaii.

How many people have died from volcanic eruptions?
It is estimated during the last 500 years that 200,000 people have lose their lives.

For more information on volcanoes, please visit Scholastic.

4 comments November 21st, 2007

The Original Supercontinent: Pangea

 

Pangea is the super-continent that existed before the separation of today’s present day continents. In 1912, Alfred Wegner was the first to propose the theory of continental drift in which he claimed evidence of the once existing Pangea. Pangea existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras, nearly 250 million years ago. It is believed that Pangea began to break up into other continents around 180 million years ago during the Jurassic Period.

2 comments November 9th, 2007

Meteor Dust on Earth

A thousand tons of meteor dust falls to Earth every day. During a meteor’s flight through the atmosphere, most burn up but some do survive to reach the Earth’s surface.  In terminology, any meteor that makes its way to the ground is called a “meteorite”.  Roughly a thousand meteorites land per year around the world.  Most of which land in the world’s oceans.

 The most famous crater from a meteorite in the United States is the Barringer Meteorite.  This 600 feet deep crater is located in Winslow, Arizona.  Fragments of this iron meteorite are still being found around the site today.  More than 30 tons of the Barringer Meteorite have been recovered.

The largest known meteorite to ever fall to earch is the Hoba Meteorite in Nambia, Africa which weighed 60,000 kg.  The largest meteorite found in the United States is the Williamette Meteorite in Oregon.  Although it was found in 1902 in Oregon, it can now be found on display in the American Museum of Natural History.

Add comment October 31st, 2007