Prolonged drought along the Yangtze has reduced China's longest river to record lows, triggering a debate over the Three Gorges dam's ability to generate power, state-media said yesterday.
The Yangtze fell to its lowest level last yrs since records began in 1877, but a dam official told the Xinhua news agency that power generation in the Three Gorges area would not be affected.
"There have never been two successive yrs when a serious drop in the amount of water flowing into the mainstream of the Yangtze has occurred," said the official. "So, I believe it is unlikely there will be a significant drop in the in flow of water into the Three Gorges Reservoir from the upper reaches this year."
Buy observers say such arguments are based on historical data and fail to consider the more recent issue of climate change.
Over 2.6 million people upsteam from the dam have been facing water shortages since late February, according to the agency.
2007-03-23 04:15:34 · 2 answers · asked by Ghost 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
Rainfall is never consistent throughout the world. Human beings have to be prepared for both flooding and drought when they live near, or are dependent upon, a large body of water for their basic needs. Perhaps those who are relying on the Three Gorges Dam for their power supply should consider forms of conservation that should continue until the drought is over.
2007-03-23 05:21:57 · answer #1 · answered by Babs 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think anything about it.
It's just another weather story.
2007-03-23 04:25:15 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋