Three Gorges Dam: Enviornmentally Ruining China?
The Three Gorges Dam: Enviornmentally Ruining China?
Source: http://faculty.washington.edu/nemati/3gorges/
By: Jonathan Folsom
World Issues
April 22nd, 2014
Introduction/Background
In the aftermath of Mao Zedong, China was viewed as a powerless and developing nation. In 2009, the Chinese executed the record-breaking world’s largest engineering and hydropower project on the Yangtze River.1 This 23 billion (US) dollar project is known as the Three Gorges Dam.2 The dam stands at 607 feet tall, stretches over a mile wide, and is equipped with twenty-six generators.3 Not only does this project symbolize China’s power, it provides China with ten percent of its electrical needs using eco-friendly energy.4 5 The massive dam was created on the longest river in China to generate power and control the flooding of the Yangtze River.6 Although the engineers intended for the project to be “green” or not harmful to the environment, biologists, geologists, and environmentalists have all been averse to the dam.7 The Three Gorges Dam is disturbing the ecosystem, biosphere and other natural elements in China. The Three Gorges Dam has been the cause of Earthquakes in China and Reservoir Induced Seismicity. The titanic dam is also responsible for damaging floods and severe tainting of the once clean waters of the Yangtze River.
Issue #1: …show more content…
Earthquakes/Reservoir-Induced Seismicity
The building of the Three Gorges Dam has resulted in Earthquakes, Reservoir-Induced Seismicity, and Flooding in China. The reservoir that was created for the dam contains a colossal 1.87 trillion cubic feet of water8 and was built on an active fault line.9 The gigantic weight of this extensive reservoir which supports the Three Gorges Dam caused the tectonic plates in the Earth’s upper crust to shift. The weight-induced movement resulted in a powerful and deadly earthquake. This phenomenon is referred to as Reservoir-Induced Seismicity: the Three Gorges Dam is at fault for creating this.10 In May of 2008, the Sichuan province experienced a powerful earthquake that killed eighty-seven thousand of it’s residents.11 Another disastrous effect, caused by the enormous reservoir, is that it magnifies the size of the flooding. The dam was built on and therefore eradicated much farmland. The further potential threat of flooding, due to the dam, created a secondary risk to the farming community and the health and production of agriculture. 12 The dam was built to control flooding, but the year 1998 made this fact inevident. The dam flooded and took the lives of four-thousand people, left fourteen-million citizens homeless, and resulted in twenty-four million dollars in economic loss.13 Also, as waters rose and the dam flooded, it submerged and destroyed roughly thirteen-hundred ancient settlements of historical and cultural importance.14 A quote from Craig Simons, the author of The Devouring Dragon says that during a tour of the dam, “The group found relics dating to 5000 BC along a stretch riverbank that would be flooded by the end of the year. Millions of similar sites had never been examined and, as the waters rose, a wide swath of history was being erased.”15 The Flying Tigers airfield is a section of the land included in the statistics that Craig is referring to.16 The World Bank turned down the opportunity to make an investment in the Three Gorges Dam due to the overwhelming factors which pointed to its major environmental concerns.17 The dam’s behemoth size created these serious environmental issues which included calamitous earthquakes and flooding.
Issue #2: Water
When the Three Gorges Dam catapults floods, it creates a watery grave. Even greater than the loss of historical buildings, defining artifacts and productive farms are the lives of people and animals as well as extinction of certain species.
After the Three Gorges Dam was built, the deterioration of the water quality is very obvious and it is irreversible, said Ai Nanshan, a professor of environmental sciences at Sichuan University. The water flow has slowed down, so its ability to purify itself has deteriorated.18
Pre Three Gorges, the fish occupied the crystal clear water of the Yangtze and people used the river as a great and healthy source of water.19 Now, the dam is finished and the water quality in the Yangtze river is steadily declining. Because the river was risen five-hundred and seventy-four feet20, some sixteen-hundred industrial companies like waste dump sites and mines, which contain hazardous waste or other pollutants, are settled in the water.21 As the dam’s water height has risen, more silt has entered the water.22 Siltation, a major issue for dams, is occurring in the dam. As the silt gathers up in front of the turbines, it forces water to flow around the dam, thus defeating the dam’s purpose.23 These pollutants are free flowing throughout the Yangtze river, creating tainted or unable drinking water and also sea-creature threatening algal blooms.24 These pollutants negatively alter the water quality of the Yangtze and create a major hazard for not only the locals, that the river plays a vital day to day role for, but the animals who dwell in it.25 The Yangtze had a healthy and mutualistic symbiotic relationship with many aquatic animals, but the dam has destroyed this and even put some of these creatures on the “Endangered Species” list in China.26 The Baiji Dolphin has inhabited the earth for seventy billion years, but the dam has put the species in critical condition. The Three Gorges blocks the flow of water to an essential tributary that empties into a lake where the dolphin once nurtured its young and caught food for itself. Along with the Baiji Dolphin, the dam also barricades a different and crucial tributary leading to the Poyang Lake. At this lake is where the Siberian Crane makes it’s habitat for the winter and relies on it for food such as frogs or mollusks. If there is no water for the Crane’s prey to live in, it does not have any food to eat and will quickly die.27 The dam is also negatively altering the water temperature in the river.28 The altered water temperature is killing the Giant Chinese River Sturgeon, a fish that has occupied the Yangtze for over one-hundred and forty million years. Fluctuating heat and cold has ruined the home of this native fish and the consequence of the dam is costly in more than monetary ways.29
Future
The Three Gorges Dam is the cause of earthquakes, reservoir-induced seismicity, unusable water and unsafe living conditions in China. All of these environmental issues oppose a massive threat to China. If the problems are not dealt with, the dam will be not only be a stigma but will also be a symbol of China’s downfall in the industrial world. The aftermath of the earthquakes that the reservoir created (and continue to create) leave China devastated. This is shown in the incident of the Sichuan Province in 2008. This specific earthquake took the lives of eighty-seven thousand people30 and flooded a nearby city and its contents, including homes, cars, and corpses.31 If China does not change the size of the Three Gorges’ reservoir, earthquakes of greater power are going to erupt and have negative consequences such as another devastated city/province. The fact that the reservoir was also built over an active fault line contributes to the risk of an earthquake as well. China should consider a relocation of the reservoir because the frightening reality is that it is possible for an earthquake to be the cause of the dam’s perish.32 Another unfortunate truth of the dam is that it is impossible to salvage the many pieces of China’s historical sites and economy helping businesses.33 This is because of the significant raise in water level when the dam was built.34 One result of the change in water height in the dam is that species, which have inhabited the river for millions of years, are losing stamina to survive and procreate. Two specific examples of threatened wildlife in China are the Baiji Dolphin and Siberian Cranez: both are becoming endangered/extinct. Another result of the water level problem, is that there is a surplus of silt gathering around the dam. This siltation has caused scientists to predict that the dam will not operate at full capacity in future years. By the year 2020, the dam was envisioned to be working at forty percent, but now experts are estimating a fourteen percent decrease in power for a total of twenty-six percent power. 35 China needs this dam to be working at full capacity because that is the way it was designed and China relies on the Three Gorges for everyday use.36 In order to reach one-hundred percent power, China should consider grooming the reservoir of silt monthly so siltation will not occur. Also, it would behoove China to control and keep a close watch on the unceasing levels of the river so that extinction, reduced power, and siltation do not cause further disaster for the country.
Conclusion
Influential Chinese leaders, dating back to as early as Sun Yat-Sen, have planned and executed the Three Gorges Dam to prove China’s dominance over other nation’s and provide China with clean energy. 37 The largest dam in the world was finished in 2009, and the Yangtze river powers the twenty-six generators to give China ten percent of its electrical needs.38 This powerhouse was built to create green energy, however, the dam is a gigantic environmental threat to China. The Three Gorges Dam is the cause of devastating earthquakes and reservoir-induced seismicity that have claimed the lives of over eighty-thousand people.39 The dam has flooded and wiped away thousands of historical and industrial sites.40 Because of the flooding, the water quality in the once clean Yangtze river is declining, animals that have inhabited the river for billions of years are dying and silt is building up around the generators because of it.41 The environmental costs outweigh the positives of the dam by far. The Three Gorges Dam, the symbol of China’s power is a facade as it is potentially ruining the country’s ability to survive and produce. The Dam is more likely going to be known as the symbol of China’s downfall rather than simply a world record-breaking, massively-sized engineering project.
Annotated Bibliography
Albert, Justin, dir.
Three Gorges the Biggest Dam in the World. Narrated by Jodie Foster. The Discovery Channel, 1998.
This source was all about the history of the Three Gorges Dam, for example how it was constructed. This was a DVD and I am two pieces from it. One was that the Dam is a symbol of China being a developed nation and understands how to use technology and the other was a fact about the main purpose of the Dam being built.
Chai, May-lee and Winberg. “Chongqing and Three Gorges Dam.” In China A to Z, by May-lee Chai and Winberg Chai, 37,240. New York City, NY: Plume,
2007.
This book contains everything to know and understand about Chinese customs and culture. I am using two sections from it, one titled “Chongqing” and another titled “Three Gorges Dam”. I used the Chongqing section to prove that the Dam has flooded some historical sites and the Three Gorges Dam to get background facts about the Dam.
Cheng, Linsun. “Three Gorges Dam.” In Encyclopedia of China, 2256-59. 2009 ed. Vol. 5. Modern and Historic Views of the World’s Newest and Oldest Global Powers. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group, 2009.
The source was very informative and useful for me. It was my reference book source. I used it multiple times throughout my essay, like describing reservoir induced seismicity and how the world bank denied investment into the project.
“China: The Three Gorges Dam Hydroelectric Project.” Water Diplomacy AquaPedia Case Study Database. Last modified February 6, 2014. Accessed April 18, 2014. http://aquapedia.waterdiplomacy.org/wiki/index.php?title=China:_The_Three_Gorges_Dam_Hydroelectric_Project#cite_note-Ponseti_2006-178-3.
This was a scholarly source with a plethora of information on it. I used it for the “future” part of my essay and briefly in the “issue #1” paragraph.
Deirdre Chetham, Before the Delunge (New York City, US: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), [Page 263]
This was one of my book sources. It was a good source because it provided me with alot of basic and simple facts about the dam that I used in the opening sentences of my paper.
New York Times Company. “Sichuan Earthquake.” The New York Times. Last modified May 6, 2009. Accessed April 14, 2014. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/earthquakes/sichuan_province_china/.
This source is from the New York Times. This is a newspaper and it gave me information on the result of the 2008 earthquake in the Sichuan Province
PBS. “Great Wall across the Yangtze.” PBS. Last modified October 9, 2001. Accessed April 10, 2014. http://www.pbs.org/itvs/greatwall/controversy2.html.
This was a good source for me, if not my best. I got all of my information on the “endangered species” animals from this website and other information as well such as how many cubic feet the reservoir can hold.
Simons, Craig. “Three Gorges Dam.” In The Devouring Dragon, 53. New York City, NY: St. Martin’s Press, n.d.
This book is about how China’s rise is a threat to our natural world. I am using a small chapter in this book titled “Three Gorges Dam”. I use a quote from the author that explains that Chinese History has been flooded by the Dam and there is no way to get it back.
Wee, Sui-Lee. “Thousands Being Moved from China’s Three Gorges Dam.” Reuters. Accessed April 16, 2014. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/22/us-china-threegorges-idUSBRE87L0ZW20120822.
I used this source as my primary source. This newspaper was a good source but I didn’t use a lot from it. I used a quote from Ai Nanshan that explained how the water quality is bad.
World Meteorological Orginaztion. “Addressing the Potential Climate Effects of China’s Three Gorges Project.” WMO Bulletin. Accessed April 16, 2014. http://www.wmo.int/pages/publications/bulletin_en/addressing_potential_climate_effects_project_en.html.
This source is a scholarly source. It was a great source that was full of information concerning climate effect but I did not use much from it other than the fact that the dam changed the water temperature.
Source: http://faculty.washington.edu/nemati/3gorges/
By: Jonathan Folsom
World Issues
April 22nd, 2014
Introduction/Background
In the aftermath of Mao Zedong, China was viewed as a powerless and developing nation. In 2009, the Chinese executed the record-breaking world’s largest engineering and hydropower project on the Yangtze River.1 This 23 billion (US) dollar project is known as the Three Gorges Dam.2 The dam stands at 607 feet tall, stretches over a mile wide, and is equipped with twenty-six generators.3 Not only does this project symbolize China’s power, it provides China with ten percent of its electrical needs using eco-friendly energy.4 5 The massive dam was created on the longest river in China to generate power and control the flooding of the Yangtze River.6 Although the engineers intended for the project to be “green” or not harmful to the environment, biologists, geologists, and environmentalists have all been averse to the dam.7 The Three Gorges Dam is disturbing the ecosystem, biosphere and other natural elements in China. The Three Gorges Dam has been the cause of Earthquakes in China and Reservoir Induced Seismicity. The titanic dam is also responsible for damaging floods and severe tainting of the once clean waters of the Yangtze River.
Issue #1: …show more content…
Earthquakes/Reservoir-Induced Seismicity
The building of the Three Gorges Dam has resulted in Earthquakes, Reservoir-Induced Seismicity, and Flooding in China. The reservoir that was created for the dam contains a colossal 1.87 trillion cubic feet of water8 and was built on an active fault line.9 The gigantic weight of this extensive reservoir which supports the Three Gorges Dam caused the tectonic plates in the Earth’s upper crust to shift. The weight-induced movement resulted in a powerful and deadly earthquake. This phenomenon is referred to as Reservoir-Induced Seismicity: the Three Gorges Dam is at fault for creating this.10 In May of 2008, the Sichuan province experienced a powerful earthquake that killed eighty-seven thousand of it’s residents.11 Another disastrous effect, caused by the enormous reservoir, is that it magnifies the size of the flooding. The dam was built on and therefore eradicated much farmland. The further potential threat of flooding, due to the dam, created a secondary risk to the farming community and the health and production of agriculture. 12 The dam was built to control flooding, but the year 1998 made this fact inevident. The dam flooded and took the lives of four-thousand people, left fourteen-million citizens homeless, and resulted in twenty-four million dollars in economic loss.13 Also, as waters rose and the dam flooded, it submerged and destroyed roughly thirteen-hundred ancient settlements of historical and cultural importance.14 A quote from Craig Simons, the author of The Devouring Dragon says that during a tour of the dam, “The group found relics dating to 5000 BC along a stretch riverbank that would be flooded by the end of the year. Millions of similar sites had never been examined and, as the waters rose, a wide swath of history was being erased.”15 The Flying Tigers airfield is a section of the land included in the statistics that Craig is referring to.16 The World Bank turned down the opportunity to make an investment in the Three Gorges Dam due to the overwhelming factors which pointed to its major environmental concerns.17 The dam’s behemoth size created these serious environmental issues which included calamitous earthquakes and flooding.
Issue #2: Water
When the Three Gorges Dam catapults floods, it creates a watery grave. Even greater than the loss of historical buildings, defining artifacts and productive farms are the lives of people and animals as well as extinction of certain species.
After the Three Gorges Dam was built, the deterioration of the water quality is very obvious and it is irreversible, said Ai Nanshan, a professor of environmental sciences at Sichuan University. The water flow has slowed down, so its ability to purify itself has deteriorated.18
Pre Three Gorges, the fish occupied the crystal clear water of the Yangtze and people used the river as a great and healthy source of water.19 Now, the dam is finished and the water quality in the Yangtze river is steadily declining. Because the river was risen five-hundred and seventy-four feet20, some sixteen-hundred industrial companies like waste dump sites and mines, which contain hazardous waste or other pollutants, are settled in the water.21 As the dam’s water height has risen, more silt has entered the water.22 Siltation, a major issue for dams, is occurring in the dam. As the silt gathers up in front of the turbines, it forces water to flow around the dam, thus defeating the dam’s purpose.23 These pollutants are free flowing throughout the Yangtze river, creating tainted or unable drinking water and also sea-creature threatening algal blooms.24 These pollutants negatively alter the water quality of the Yangtze and create a major hazard for not only the locals, that the river plays a vital day to day role for, but the animals who dwell in it.25 The Yangtze had a healthy and mutualistic symbiotic relationship with many aquatic animals, but the dam has destroyed this and even put some of these creatures on the “Endangered Species” list in China.26 The Baiji Dolphin has inhabited the earth for seventy billion years, but the dam has put the species in critical condition. The Three Gorges blocks the flow of water to an essential tributary that empties into a lake where the dolphin once nurtured its young and caught food for itself. Along with the Baiji Dolphin, the dam also barricades a different and crucial tributary leading to the Poyang Lake. At this lake is where the Siberian Crane makes it’s habitat for the winter and relies on it for food such as frogs or mollusks. If there is no water for the Crane’s prey to live in, it does not have any food to eat and will quickly die.27 The dam is also negatively altering the water temperature in the river.28 The altered water temperature is killing the Giant Chinese River Sturgeon, a fish that has occupied the Yangtze for over one-hundred and forty million years. Fluctuating heat and cold has ruined the home of this native fish and the consequence of the dam is costly in more than monetary ways.29
Future
The Three Gorges Dam is the cause of earthquakes, reservoir-induced seismicity, unusable water and unsafe living conditions in China. All of these environmental issues oppose a massive threat to China. If the problems are not dealt with, the dam will be not only be a stigma but will also be a symbol of China’s downfall in the industrial world. The aftermath of the earthquakes that the reservoir created (and continue to create) leave China devastated. This is shown in the incident of the Sichuan Province in 2008. This specific earthquake took the lives of eighty-seven thousand people30 and flooded a nearby city and its contents, including homes, cars, and corpses.31 If China does not change the size of the Three Gorges’ reservoir, earthquakes of greater power are going to erupt and have negative consequences such as another devastated city/province. The fact that the reservoir was also built over an active fault line contributes to the risk of an earthquake as well. China should consider a relocation of the reservoir because the frightening reality is that it is possible for an earthquake to be the cause of the dam’s perish.32 Another unfortunate truth of the dam is that it is impossible to salvage the many pieces of China’s historical sites and economy helping businesses.33 This is because of the significant raise in water level when the dam was built.34 One result of the change in water height in the dam is that species, which have inhabited the river for millions of years, are losing stamina to survive and procreate. Two specific examples of threatened wildlife in China are the Baiji Dolphin and Siberian Cranez: both are becoming endangered/extinct. Another result of the water level problem, is that there is a surplus of silt gathering around the dam. This siltation has caused scientists to predict that the dam will not operate at full capacity in future years. By the year 2020, the dam was envisioned to be working at forty percent, but now experts are estimating a fourteen percent decrease in power for a total of twenty-six percent power. 35 China needs this dam to be working at full capacity because that is the way it was designed and China relies on the Three Gorges for everyday use.36 In order to reach one-hundred percent power, China should consider grooming the reservoir of silt monthly so siltation will not occur. Also, it would behoove China to control and keep a close watch on the unceasing levels of the river so that extinction, reduced power, and siltation do not cause further disaster for the country.
Conclusion
Influential Chinese leaders, dating back to as early as Sun Yat-Sen, have planned and executed the Three Gorges Dam to prove China’s dominance over other nation’s and provide China with clean energy. 37 The largest dam in the world was finished in 2009, and the Yangtze river powers the twenty-six generators to give China ten percent of its electrical needs.38 This powerhouse was built to create green energy, however, the dam is a gigantic environmental threat to China. The Three Gorges Dam is the cause of devastating earthquakes and reservoir-induced seismicity that have claimed the lives of over eighty-thousand people.39 The dam has flooded and wiped away thousands of historical and industrial sites.40 Because of the flooding, the water quality in the once clean Yangtze river is declining, animals that have inhabited the river for billions of years are dying and silt is building up around the generators because of it.41 The environmental costs outweigh the positives of the dam by far. The Three Gorges Dam, the symbol of China’s power is a facade as it is potentially ruining the country’s ability to survive and produce. The Dam is more likely going to be known as the symbol of China’s downfall rather than simply a world record-breaking, massively-sized engineering project.
Annotated Bibliography
Albert, Justin, dir.
Three Gorges the Biggest Dam in the World. Narrated by Jodie Foster. The Discovery Channel, 1998.
This source was all about the history of the Three Gorges Dam, for example how it was constructed. This was a DVD and I am two pieces from it. One was that the Dam is a symbol of China being a developed nation and understands how to use technology and the other was a fact about the main purpose of the Dam being built.
Chai, May-lee and Winberg. “Chongqing and Three Gorges Dam.” In China A to Z, by May-lee Chai and Winberg Chai, 37,240. New York City, NY: Plume,
2007.
This book contains everything to know and understand about Chinese customs and culture. I am using two sections from it, one titled “Chongqing” and another titled “Three Gorges Dam”. I used the Chongqing section to prove that the Dam has flooded some historical sites and the Three Gorges Dam to get background facts about the Dam.
Cheng, Linsun. “Three Gorges Dam.” In Encyclopedia of China, 2256-59. 2009 ed. Vol. 5. Modern and Historic Views of the World’s Newest and Oldest Global Powers. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group, 2009.
The source was very informative and useful for me. It was my reference book source. I used it multiple times throughout my essay, like describing reservoir induced seismicity and how the world bank denied investment into the project.
“China: The Three Gorges Dam Hydroelectric Project.” Water Diplomacy AquaPedia Case Study Database. Last modified February 6, 2014. Accessed April 18, 2014. http://aquapedia.waterdiplomacy.org/wiki/index.php?title=China:_The_Three_Gorges_Dam_Hydroelectric_Project#cite_note-Ponseti_2006-178-3.
This was a scholarly source with a plethora of information on it. I used it for the “future” part of my essay and briefly in the “issue #1” paragraph.
Deirdre Chetham, Before the Delunge (New York City, US: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), [Page 263]
This was one of my book sources. It was a good source because it provided me with alot of basic and simple facts about the dam that I used in the opening sentences of my paper.
New York Times Company. “Sichuan Earthquake.” The New York Times. Last modified May 6, 2009. Accessed April 14, 2014. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/earthquakes/sichuan_province_china/.
This source is from the New York Times. This is a newspaper and it gave me information on the result of the 2008 earthquake in the Sichuan Province
PBS. “Great Wall across the Yangtze.” PBS. Last modified October 9, 2001. Accessed April 10, 2014. http://www.pbs.org/itvs/greatwall/controversy2.html.
This was a good source for me, if not my best. I got all of my information on the “endangered species” animals from this website and other information as well such as how many cubic feet the reservoir can hold.
Simons, Craig. “Three Gorges Dam.” In The Devouring Dragon, 53. New York City, NY: St. Martin’s Press, n.d.
This book is about how China’s rise is a threat to our natural world. I am using a small chapter in this book titled “Three Gorges Dam”. I use a quote from the author that explains that Chinese History has been flooded by the Dam and there is no way to get it back.
Wee, Sui-Lee. “Thousands Being Moved from China’s Three Gorges Dam.” Reuters. Accessed April 16, 2014. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/22/us-china-threegorges-idUSBRE87L0ZW20120822.
I used this source as my primary source. This newspaper was a good source but I didn’t use a lot from it. I used a quote from Ai Nanshan that explained how the water quality is bad.
World Meteorological Orginaztion. “Addressing the Potential Climate Effects of China’s Three Gorges Project.” WMO Bulletin. Accessed April 16, 2014. http://www.wmo.int/pages/publications/bulletin_en/addressing_potential_climate_effects_project_en.html.
This source is a scholarly source. It was a great source that was full of information concerning climate effect but I did not use much from it other than the fact that the dam changed the water temperature.