The Three Gorges Dam Social Sciences Research Paper

Identifying Technical and Non-technical Issues About Three Gorges Dam
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THREE GORGES DAM
Abstract
The Three Gorges Damn stretches more than two kilometers across river Yangtze. The Dam is located in Hubei province in south-western China. The Dam was inaugurated in 2006, and it started to generate electricity in 2003. The Dam was given the name Three Gorges due to the canyons formed by gigantic limestone cliffs. This is a dam that gives the most beautiful landscape in the world and has been a tourist attraction site worldwide. The beauty of the Three Gorges Dam is inspired by poets and artists of China, especially Li Bai. The idea of constructing the Three Gorges Dam originated from Sun Yat-sen 80 years ago. This was because there was mass flooding around the area. The Three Gorges Dam is one of the largest construction projects because of its convolution, technological, environmental, and social systems integration. During the construction of the Dam, more than 1.2 million people were displaced from their original places.
Additionally, several towns and cities were flooded. The length of the reservoir is 600 kilometers. The amount of energy produced by the Three Gorges Dam can support China. This is because the Dam generates 11 times more power than the Hoover Dam. The Three Gorges Dam captured the media's attention all over the world because of its massive impact on the environment. Environmental experts from China and other parts of the world opposed the construction of the Dam because it was a massive threat to the environment and wildlife. However, China's authorities state that the project was supposed to show the dominance China had achieved in technology. The Chinese also argued that the Three Gorges Dam's construction was one of the most outstanding achievements China had achieved in many years. The paper will address technical and non-technical issues about Three Gorges Dam.
Key Words: River Yangtze, Three Gorges Dam, systems approach, Chinese government, environment.
Introduction
The Three Gorges Dam is one of the largest projects built in the world. However, it is the most controversial project because of the massive economic, environmental, and social impacts. For example, there is an indication of serious problems that have started to develop in recent years. In 2007, media groups started to report on developing threats like pollution, landslides, and flooding people were exposed to. There was also an increase in political and social turbulence and dissatisfaction associated with displacing millions of people. One of the biggest controversy causes by the Dam was water pollution. Scientists suggest that 70% of the freshwater got polluted after the construction of the Dam. Some officials from China were also concerned by some of the unresolved challenges caused by the project. The secretary-general of Yangtze, Weng Linda, stated that the challenges had become more severe than expected. In 2007, Chinese officials admitted that the DamDam's construction had caused a series of ecological ills like pollution and landslides. These environmental impacts were not only witnessed in China but the neighboring countries. Pollution, erosion, and landslides were a significant threat to wild animals. These officials also stated that if the government did not adopt preventive measures, China would experience an environmental catastrophe. The government's effort to relocate people caused a range of economic, social, and political problems.
At this particular point, it was challenging for the Chinese officials to ascertain if the project had generated any benefits. The Three Gorges Dam is a multipurpose project because of the several utilities it provides to the people and the world. This paper analyses the design of Three Gorges Dam, the reasons for the DamDam's construction, and its impact on the people and the environment.
The Design of Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam is located along the Yangtze River. The river runs more than 3700 miles long. The Wuxia Gorge, Qutan Gorge, and Xiling Gorge are the three rivers that make up the Three Gorges Dam (Gleick, 2009). The Dam is 2335 meters that is 7,660 feet long with a height of 185 meters. The Dam also incorporates 37 million cubic yards of concrete and 463000 metric tons of steel. The Dam has created an enormous deep-water reservoir that allows ocean-going freighters to circumnavigate 1400 miles inland for Shanghai to the Chongqing city's inland. In 2003, limited hydroelectric power started to be produced. In 2012, additional turbine generated were added to increase the production of hydroelectric power. The Three Gorges Dam can generate 22.500 megawatts of electricity, making it one of the most productive Dam around the globe (Gleick, Palaniappan & Morikawa, 2014). The main reason the Dam was constricted was to protect people from floods of the Yangtze basin, but its effectiveness has been debated. Because of the challenges associated with the Dam's construction, the Chinese government has struggled to complete its construction for over 40 years.
Positive Impacts of the Three Gorges Damn
The construction of the Three Gorges Dam has several economic values. First, the Dam is significant in agriculture development because the Dam will hold water for irrigation. The Dam will also provide people with drinking water. Since the Three Gorges Dam's depth is 525 ft, transportation of goods by ships can be more accessible across River Yangtze. As a result, navigability has been increased in the economy. In central China, trade has increased by 5% over the past few years. The cost of transporting goods has also reduced by 37%/. The Three Gorges Dam is big such that it can accommodate 12 huge commercial ships to travel over the Dam concurrently.
The construction of the Three Gorges Dam will increase fish production in China. According to Gleick, Palaniappan & Morikawa (2014), River Yangtze has more than 300 different fish species. The construction of the Three Gorges Dam was meant to prevent fish from hatching upstream, thus diminishing the sizes of the population. This would harm the fishing industry and the livelihood of the fishermen who depend on fishing to earn a living. The creation of the Dam was to make more room for the reproduction of fish. This would impact local fisheries positively. The use of water as a natural and renewable energy source was another positive impact of the Three Gorges Dam. Water is used as an energy supply. Additionally, hydroelectricity is usually clean because greenhouse gases are not released into the atmosphere during electricity production. Further, the Three Gorges Dam is meant to replace coal usage in China, improve health standards, prevent pollution, and prevent the formation of acid rain.
The construction of the Three Gorges Dam has assisted China in fighting against drought. During dry seasons, water is stored in the Three Gorges Dam. Later, the water is discharged to downstream to maintain the water levels. Additionally, this water is used for industria...