Previous discussions have focused on water pollution and air pollution driven specifically by industrialization. Following will be a discussion of two additional environmental issues.
Three Gorges Dam and the blizzard-like dust storms caused by the desertification of the Gobi Desert.
Three Gorges Dam and the blizzard-like dust storms caused by the desertification of the Gobi Desert.
The Three Gorges Dam, stretches a mile and a half across the Yangzi River. Considered the World's largest ever public works project, it was constructed for flood protection, power generation and to enable large freighters to travel inland. Three Gorges Dam is 600 feet high and creates a reservoir 400 miles long. (Kennedy)
A Map of China Depicting the Location of the Three Gorges Dam as Well as the Size of the Reservoir Formed by the Dam.
There is a laundry list of environmental as well as social impacts of the Three Gorges Dam. This include the displacement of anywhere from 1.2 to 2 million people, massive landslides, regional precipitation changes, as well as the lowering of the production of the East China Sea.
The Three Gorges Dam During Construction Courtesy of The New York Times/Du Bin/11.19.2007
The Three Gorges Dam After Construction cnet.news.com
The rising water has displaced hundreds of thousands of people but so has the threat of landslides.
Stories abound about massive landslides caused by the extreme pressure being exerted on the land from the reservoir. These landslides have led to many deaths.
The impacts of the Three Gorges Dam stretch beyond just the local area surrounding the dam and the reservoir. Precipitation has been altered on a regional scale. Utilizing satellite data, NASA through its Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission has found that land use change through the construction of the Three Gorges Dam has increased rainfall in certain areas but led to its decline in others. (Wu, Zhang, et al. 2006) The width of the 400 mile long waterway behind the dam increased from .5km to 1.5km. The sheer volume of the now 400 mile long reservoir has has increased evaporation and lowered the local temperature. The ultimate impact of the changes in precipitation and ensuing changes to regional temperatures and those effects on the surrounding environment are still being studied.
Beyond the regional effects of the Three Gorges Dam, far downstream of the dam itself, the East China Sea, the final depository for all that flows down the river, is experiencing significant changes in its productivity due to the reduce amount of sediment being introduced into the Sea. Within two months of only the first third of the dam being completed, the reduced sediment load has adversely effected the productivity of the East China Sea. This has quickly led to a decrease in the density of both picoplankton and microbial organisms. (Jiaoa, Zhang, et al. 2007) With the full completion of the dam still a year away, the ultimate effects of the dam may not be known for some time, however given that early studies have already shown a decreased production of the East China Sea, some estimates estimate that the productivity of the Sea will be reduced by 10%, a staggering number considering this reduction in production could have similar impacts on commercial fish catches and thus food sources for the Chinese.
To the way north of the Three Gorges Dam region lies the World famous Gobi Desert. The problems presented by the Three Gorges Dam differ dramatically from those presented by the desertification of the aforementioned Gobi Desert.
Below lies a map and a series of images depicting the dust storms that engulf China's capitol city of Beijing and other surrounding areas.
Location of the Gobi Desert
Tienanmen Square, March 2010 BBC News
Beijing DennisCox.com
The Far Reaching Effects of the Gobi Desert Dust Storms www.usgrcop.gov
The Even Farther Reaching Effects of the Gobi Desert Dust Storms/Glenn Canyon, Arizona www.lakepowell.net
As previously mentioned, the dust storms effecting not only China but reaching far to the east, are caused by the desertification of the area surrounding the Gobi Desert. In short, the Gobi Desert is expanding. The primary cause of the his desertification is purported to be due to heavy deforestation. (BBC, 2010)
These storms are massive. In March of 2010 (see photo above), a dust storm engulfed 313,000 square miles and effected 250,000 million people in not only China but South Korea as well. It was so severe that Chinese officials issued a Level 5 pollution advisory and advised their citizens to stay indoors. (BBC)
As mentioned, desertification caused by deforestation is the leading of the expansion of the Gobi Desert and the dust storms caused by this expansion. It is also believed that consistent drought conditions and climate change are also leading this expansion, which some scientists believe is transforming a million acres of grassland into desert each year.
Unlike the Three Gorges Dam and the potential damaging environmental consequences that are still unrealized, researchers understand not only the cause of desertification but they also understand how to slow it.
The United Nations Development Fund is educating the local sheep herders on the process of crop rotation, now long forgotten since the Chinese government has limited their involvement in farmers. Crop rotation reduces the amount of land constantly being used by sheep to graze which helps keep the grass high and the desert from encroaching. The UNDP is also promoting herders to "cultivate a green thumb" by planting large gardens supported by an irrigation system funded and developed by the UNDP. (Mong 2009)
