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Three Gorges Dam Essay

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What are the positive and negative effects upon the environment of the three gorges dam?
The three gorges dam is situated in the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping which is located in the Yiling District, Hubei province of China. It is the largest dam in the world and was started in 1994 and finished in 2009 . The dam was constructed for many reasons being flood control, power generation, transportation and tourist attraction. Although all these goals are positive there are also many negative things which are related to the environment. I chose to write about the effects upon the environment because I think that it is very important to preserve the environment as much as possible but people are damaging it more and more.
China is one …show more content…

Additionally, temperatures have dropped by a bit less than 1°C because of clouds forming, limiting the amount of sun reaching to the ground . These effects come from the lake effect which is when warm and moist air evaporates from the river and mixes with cold and dry air, causing precipitation. Furthermore, the dam has also created drought problems as water levels have been reduced in the river. In 2008, the river dropped the most it has ever dropped in the past 142 years and the year of 2011 was considered to have the worst droughts in 50 years. This caused problems in farms as it meant that there was no water for livestock, causing a problem with food production. It also threatened the ecosystems and wildlife, especially those who live in the river. The drought also caused ships to be stranded and power shortages affected eastern and central China. In spite of the problems this dam causes, But Wang Hai who is the director of the transport division of the three gorges dam told China Daily that he does not accept the thought that the dam has caused water related problems and things could be a lot worse without the dam existing. Most people though, disagree and say that it is impossible that a huge dam wouldn’t have any impact on downstream. The dam can also cause

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