Attempting to curb fresh criticism of the country's massive Three Gorges Dam spurred by a landslide that killed over 30 people, China announced a set of vague initiatives to improve the environmental problems caused by the world's largest dam. While no one has directly tied the landslide that killed a construction worker and a bus full of people to the Three Gorges Dam, the slide is consistent with the dam's effects in the area, including increased seismic activity thought to be caused by water penetrating porous, formerly dry rock. Other environmental problems associated with the dam and its 410-mile-long reservoir include water pollution, massive algal blooms, and soil erosion. The Three Gorges Dam has already officially displaced some 1.3 million people and plans have been announced to relocate up to about 4 million more. The director of the Three Gorges Project Committee, Wang Xiaofeng, said that treating the geological hazards posed by the mega-dam was important "to ensure the lives and property of the people in the reservoir region." Well, those who are left anyway.
source: The Scotsman, The New York Times, Associated Press
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Comments
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mseall Posted 5:46 am
26 Nov 2007
We need to think very carefully about how our sustainable energy plans will pan out....
http://www.talkclimatechange.com
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PolluteLessDotCom Posted 6:22 am
26 Nov 2007
A world that is run as wastefully as North Americans have it is not sustainable for 6.5 billion people, or even just 500 million more than now. Come to think about it, it seems not sustainable with even the current numbers.
Sooner or later we will have to deal with not having a reliable supply of fossil fuels. Better be prepared and educated to tighten the belt before that happens.
As always, positively looking forward
Karsten
--
http://www.polluteless.com
Practical Advice to Pollute Less
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Wolverine Posted 11:06 am
26 Nov 2007
The only real solutions to the problems caused by human consumption of energy are 1) lowering human population, 2) lowering our energy consumption, 3) limiting energy creation to truly sustainable and clean sources, such as solar and non-bird-killing wind generators, and 4) making all energy production local.
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howardgw Posted 1:01 am
27 Nov 2007
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SteveNLee Posted 6:21 pm
27 Nov 2007
Millions of people are set to lose their homes.
Villages and towns have been wiped out.
Pollution levels in the Yangtze are increasing - I certainly didn't fancy a swim in it!
The Yangtze River Dolphin has been driven to extinction.
Archeological sites have been lost under the waters forever.
The tremendously beautiful gorges after which the dam is named no longer exist - the water levels are so high they are little more than mounds now instead of towering cliffs.
It's an environemental nightmare from which there is no escape. Literally. I mean, what they going to do? Poke a hole in it and let the water back out?
A total disaster.
Steve N. Lee
Author of eco-suspense thriller 'What if...?' and
free eco-guide 'An Inconvenient Doofus' available from http://www.Steve-N-Lee.com
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