Read the information below and use the information to help you with the activities that follow.

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE THREE GORGES DAM
(Ways that The Three Gorges Dam changes the economy and economic decisions)

Increase in GDP:

  • The Three Gorges Dam benefits China's Economic Development
  • It has attracted well-known companies and industrial parks have been built.
  • There is also compensation for families displaced by the dam.

POWER GENERATION:

  • The Three Gorges Dam taps China's underexploited hydroelectric potential. The Three Gorges Dam supplies about 10% of China's electricity.
  • The dam is set to produce 18,000 megawatts of electricity equivalent to 18 nuclear power plants or fifty million tons of coal.
  • The electricity produced by its 26 main generators is sufficient to light up Boston, New York and Washington D.C. combined.
  • This will make China less dependent on other nations for energy; China will become more self-sufficient and will be able to provide power for its poorer areas.

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT LEADING TO ECONOMIC GROWTH:

  • The Three Gorges Dam is the largest reservoir in the world; this great engineering marvel attracts tourists from around the globe.
  • In 2007, the dam had 310,000 tourists; a 35% increase from 2006. In 2009, there were more than 1.25 million tourists to the region.

NAVIGATION:

  • The Three Gorges Dam increases the depth of the Yangtze River which allows ships to bring more goods across the river.
  • This increase in trade will also lower prices and more economic activity.

GLOBALIZATION OF DAM INDUSTRIES:

  • Major Chinese construction firms have signed contracts for dam-building in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Activity: Based on the information above, do you believe that the Three Gorges Dam will have a positive or negative impact on the people of China? Support your thesis with three examples and write your detailed response in your notes.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE THREE GORGES DAM
(Ways that the areas surrounding the Three Gorges Dam has been changed)

FLOOD CONTROL:

  • The dam will reduce floods; this will save human lives, homes, and millions of acres of farmland.
  • The dam helps to protect wildlife and where they live by controlling water levels by controlling the levels of the river; this keeps the land from being degraded for wildlife and farming.

REDUCTION OF GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSION:

  • Hydroelectric power from the Three Gorges Dam is much cleaner than coal and causes less pollution; there is less contribution to global warming.

Activity: Imagine that you are a guest engineer working on the Three Gorges Dam project. Each day that you come to work there are protesters who are against the building of the dam because they feel that it will destroy the environment. You have been selected by your boss to address the protesters in a speech that will convince them that that the Three Gorges Dam has a positive impact on the environment. Your boss wants you to stress three main points: flood control, farmland, and pollution.

Write your speech in your notes.