Environmentalists and dam operators, at war for years, start making peace
The industry that operates America’s hydroelectric dams and several environmental groups announced an unusual agreement Tuesday to work together to get more clean energy from hydropower while reducing the environmental harm from dams, in a sign that the threat of climate change is spurring both sides to rethink their decadeslong battle over a large but contentious source of renewable power.
More Than 500 Dams Planned in Protected Areas Around the Globe, Study Finds
More than 500 dams are planned or already under construction within protected areas around the world, according to a new study published in the journal Conservation Letters. The study is the first of its kind to quantify the global extent of dams constructed in protected areas, which can include indigenous areas, nature reserves, and national parks.
China’s Three Gorges Dam is one of the largest ever created. Was it worth it?
The Three Gorges Dam was designed to tame China’s longest river. But this summer’s record rains reveal its limited ability to control floods.
Global warming and illegal land reclamation add to severe floods in China
China has perennial flooding in summer but a combination of climate reasons and human behavior over decades of land reclamation and dam-building on nearby rivers, have contributed to a longer-than-usual duration and incessant rainfall in some regions.
The neglected, deteriorating and dangerous US dam infrastructure
More than 15,000 dams in the US would likely kill people if they failed, and at least 2,300 of them are in poor or unsatisfactory condition, according to new study.
Michigan dam failures force 10,000 to evacuate and could leave one city under 9 feet of water
Rapidly rising water overtook dams and forced the evacuation of about 10,000 people in central Michigan, where the governor said one downtown could be “under approximately 9 feet of water.” Experts are describing this as a 500-year event…
Can these giant dams keep Europe from drowning?
A plan for a giant a 400-mile enclosure, The Northern European Enclosure Dam (NEED), would cut off the North and Baltic Seas from the Atlantic Ocean to protect 15 European countries from those rising seas. The project’s scale is unprecedented. Its cost phenomenal. But it’s still cheaper than all the alternatives—including doing nothing.
For now, river deltas gain land worldwide
River deltas rank among the most economically and ecologically valuable environments on Earth. People living on deltas are increasingly vulnerable to sea-level rise and coastal hazards such as major storms, extremely high tides, and tsunamis.
Chinese paddlefish extinct after surviving 150 million years
The Chinese paddlefish — one of the world’s largest freshwater fish — has officially been declared extinct after surviving some 150 million years. The giant species, which measured as long as 23 feet and weighed as much as 1,100 pounds, has been killed off by overfishing and dam construction.