Traditionally, environmental management has been considered in the light of knowing the best technological solution. A significant case study representing a technological solution to environmental management is the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) on the Yangtze River in China. The dam has two principal management purposes. These are; to provide energy sourced by more renewable means than coal burning alternatives, to meet rising demands, as well as reduce flooding of the Yangtze River. Following a deeper introduction of the TGD case study, four primary perspectives will be used to assess the environmental management outcomes and approaches. First the social implications and any gains of the project, including the issues of social injustice and lack of intra-generational equity, will be analysed. Secondly, the environmental detriments and issues, including loss of biodiversity and erosion, will be similarly analysed and critically weighed against environmental gains of the project. Thirdly, alternative solutions to the technological TGD for China, along the lines of people and societal management, will be assessed in terms of management outcomes and compared. Limits to technical solutions such as the TGD will also be assessed. Lastly, the societal management concept of the ‘bottom-up’ approach will be analysed and contrasted to the more technical top-down approach as used in the TGD case study. It is argued, in assessing the case study from these social and environmental perspectives alongside alternative people management solutions and decision making concepts, that managing the environment well is more so about managing the people and society than knowing the best technological solution.
In assessing the case study and detailing the argum...
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In order to understand why China is in such environmental difficulties we need to understand why the lifestyles of people in Europe and the US could be to blame. The first area to consider is the environmental issues that China is currently suffering with. Once this is established I can assert what impact the US and Europe has in relation to these issues and what actually causes them. In linking the events it will be easier to see the chain of events. To do this I am going to work backwards and understand the issues that exist within China and then secondly what they are a result of. This will give me the background of why China’s environmental issues have become so dire.
The Oroville dam is a rock fill embankment dam, which means, a water barrier that is made with certain materials so that it isn’t prone to erosion or deterioration. Because the material is so heavy due to the need for a secure dam, , it creates a much stronger barrier and base to its foundation. A study was done to see if a rock fill dam is the most stable type of dam to hold the amount of water it is expected to. The study tested different types of dams stability compared to the stability of a rock fill, and ultimately found that the rock fill is completely acceptable and safe (Lei). The Feather River is the only river to feed into the dam, filling it to its total capacity of 3,507,977 acre/ft.
An efficient life is one of the issues that prevents the government in the world to put full effort into protecting the environment. There is a trade off between a country’s development and environmental policy. For example, China has achieved rapid economic growth through industrialization in past few decades and become one of the largest economic power countries in the world. As a developing country, China wishes to use all the resources in the nature to boost their economic. The government wants to earn more money to improve rural areas in China and to reduce the poverty rate in the country. In order to reach those goals, mirac...
Admittedly, 2/3 of the world’s population living with water shortages is a scary enough statistic to send a shiver up the spine. Barlow doesn’t stop there however; she goes on to say that only 2 % of the U.S. rivers and wetlands remain untouched. What does that mean for the creatures that lived there? Covered that too, “37% of freshwater fish are at risk of ...
In the beginning of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, there were several problems. There were several protestors and opinions about the dam before the Three Gorges Dam project was even started.1 China has had history of several dam failures in the mid-1970s that were responsible for thousands of deaths. The three gorges (Xiling, Wu, and Qutang) have scenery that is a tourist attraction.2 The dam was going to be a little over 600 feet tall, 7500 feet wide, and hold over 97 trillion gallons of water. Because of all of the population increase, China started using coal power plants1 and shipping, which causes acid rain over the region making the Yangtze River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world.4 It does not help that the Yangtze River runs right through Chinas industrial heartland. Using the river to transport their goods to other parts or China adds to the pollution.2 Pollution from mines, hospitals, and garbage dumping is another big problem for the river because the pollution is building up around the dam.1 With the Three Gorges Dam will come landslides because of the rising water tables and the large slopes with unstable soil from local farming causing more sediment being added to the river.3 And because the dam lies on a fault line there will also be an escalation of earthquakes. There is a huge decrease in sediment discharge; which caused a 90% sediment load into thousands of other reservoirs. Before the dam was operational, it was retaining water and sediments.4 The water levels were rising faster than anyone expected, therefore, the finish date had to be moved up.1 Scientists even projected that 70% of sediment discharge would be trapped for the first two decades and 44% would be store...
Also according to the Asia-pacific economics blog. It states that due to chine poor productivity approach puts an inefficient energy allotment due to the fact that the purpose of it was intended for urban population thus it deprives the rural population of this benefit. The waters of the Yangtze 's middle areas will rise by up to 110 meters, thus burying underwater numerous cultural artifacts and submerging the homes of more than a million people and ruining the beautiful gorges
American economist, Rostow through his ‘Stages of Economic Development’ demonstrates that economies may ignore environmental quality in their quest for growth. This notion is true in China, with government and private firms using unsustainable practices in order to maximise globalisation opportunities. China suffers mostly from chronic air and water pollution caused by both the demand for energy (i.e. coal mines) as well as the process of manufacturing. This effect on the Chinese economy is quantified through China’s emissions, which in 2010, was 8,286 million metric tonnes, 35% higher than the next uppermost emitter, the United States. China is also home to 16 out of 20 most polluted cities in the world. Consequences for not cleaning up the environment will not just be a health crisis but an economic one. The Chinese government is now recognising and addressing the environmental problems which have occurred due to both rapid economic growth and industrialisation. It has set targets which aim at reducing pollution levels with $6.6b committed in spending in order to achieve such targets. Such examples include investment in nuclear power instead of coal, hydroelectricity (i.e. Three Gorges Dam) as well as new stringent environmental laws. It is hoped that new regulations and investment will lead the way for renewable energy and a sustainable
Desertification has consistently haunted Chinese climatic history. However, recent evidence suggests that the Chinese might have a little more on their hands than the global climate change experienced by generations before them. While global warming and climate change are a world concern, the Chinese have an invested interest in combating the desert destruction of their capital city. If these methods prove futile and anthropogenic forces accelerate desertification, then Beijing could be the first victim in the battle against global warming.
Even though the Three Gorges Dam Hydropower plants in China produce energy and prevent flooding, the dam is now threatening China's biodiversity. The TGD has altered the ecosystem structure and functioning, disrupting the aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity in this region. One of the overall diversity being threatened by the dam is aquatic. The TGD has disrupted the natural seasonal flow patterns to which the aquatic animals are adapted, block and destroy spawning grounds and migratory paths, and fragment aquatic populations. This fragmentation is playing a major role in the loss of biodiversity. In fact, some aquatic mammal and endemic fish species are near extinction, such as the Chinese river dolphin, the finless porpoise and the Chinese paddlefish [Efforts and challenges for the environment.] The reservoir created by the TGD is a...
...stem. Authors found this topic as an important subject of critical flow conditions in water resources systems analysis and design. Importance of engineering implementation and maintenance is considered.
Outside of China, the United States is the most-dammed country on the planet. Counting only dams taller than fifty feet high, the U.S. has some 5,000 dams that range from giant hydroelectric dams such as the Grand Coulee in Washington State to flood control dams in the southeast and dams that provide water for irrigation in California. Overall the United States has as many as 2.5 million dams of one sort or another. The design and construction of many of these dams took place between 1930 and 1975. This 45 years period is known as the golden age of dam building, starting with the construction of the Hoover Dam beginning in 1931. By the 1970s the golden age of dam construction began to come to an end with increased concerns of the impacts of dams on their surroundings. To better understand this time period I will look at the construction of Hoover Dam during the 1930’s followed by an examination many of today’s arguments for and against dams [i].
China has approximately 20% of the world’s population, which is around 1.3 billion people (Morris, 2009, p. 111). Also, China has become one of the worlds biggest manufacturing countries within 30 years (Fawssett, 2009, p. 27). However, such rapid development has come at a cost, which has created various environmental problems. Coincidentally, China has 16 cities on a list of the 20 worst polluted cities in the world (Fawssett, 2009, p. 15). Therefore, this essay will explain the reasons for China’s environmental problems, then evaluate the claim that the Chinese government and people, are tackling these environmental problems. First, crop farming techniques over the last hundred years, and their consequences will be explained. Followed by, how peoples choice in food has changed over the last hundred years, and how this indirectly affects the environment. Then, how a capitalist economy is linked to agriculture, and finally what the Chinese government and people are doing to tackle these problems.
The water resources of China are affected by severe water quantity shortages and severe water quality pollution. Due to the increase of the population and the rapid industrialization, the water demand in China has increased. For this reason, China has responded by building out the water infrastructure such as Three Gorges Dam. The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest hydropower project and most notorious dam. The environmental impacts of the project are profound, and are likely to get worse as time as goes on.
Stretching a total of about 3,964 miles, the Yangtze River has played a considerable role in the lives of Chinese citizens for thousands of years. Along with serving as a major form of water transportation and trading, Asia’s longest river is considered a key role in China’s agriculture and economic system. Where the river runs through Sandouping, one would find the Three Gorges Dam—the largest, and possibly the most infamous, dam in the world. Even though the Chinese government had intentions of using the dam to control flooding and generate power, the Three Gorges Dam has proven itself to be an environmental catastrophe for the Chinese.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND BUREAU OF RECLAMATION. (1991! Summary Statistics. Washington, D C. , pp. 298.