What are the pros and cons of the Three Gorges Dam in China?

Question

it's for a school thing.if you answer you must have sources. first one with a good answer gets the 10 points!

Answer 1

It's a trick question. there are no "pro's." <}:-})

Answer 2

It's displaced a couple of million people but they have cheap power now.  If you want sources then GOOGLE it... you can get all the sources you want when you GOOGLE something because GOOGLE is for doing RESEARCH and answers is for asking silly, stupid questions that get silly, stupid answers.

Answer 3

Pro:

Electricity generation

Flood control

Con:

Displacement of millions of people

Tempering with nature

I doubt the project will work for long. The river carries LOTS of sediments that will now build up at the dams. Within a few decades the dam lakes will get more shallow.  

Answer 4

Mr Hex Vision and Cooltron both have a good answers.

I think my version is more complete.

Pro:

Energy: Clean power to alleviate China's shortage of power (especially clean power).

Flood control: Yangtze river is China's largest and are very prone to flooding.

Shipping and commerce:  Now large ships can go much farther up river.  So it connects water way from the ocean all the way up to Chinese heartland.  That is why it has some of the world's largest locks to carry ship upstream

Politic:  It becomes an icon of China and a technological marvel.

Con:

Cost.  It cost far more to construct than a collection of smaller dams upriver.  And the return is slow and long process.

Pollution:  With slower flow of water, pollution collects behind the dam and water quality reduces.  With increased traffic, it will also affect water quality in the long run.

Culture:  Many culture relics are destroyed or buried due to contruction and rising of the water

People:  Millions of people have to be relocated and communities are change for better or worse.

Corruption:  Major projects like this creates opportunity for money mis-management.

Safety:  The dam has become a major military target.  The safety of the people living down stream depending on the safety of the dam.  It can potentially become a targe of military conflict or terrioism.

Environment:  The dam has altered the mountains surrounding the area.  Three Gorges is no longer as impressive as it used to be.  The mountains are under massive pressure from the lake created by the dam to cause earthquakes, landslides and erosion.  

Politic:  It becomes a government icon.

Hope that helps.

Answer 5

Pros Clean electricity without the need of oil and fossil burning.

However there are of cons, some argumentative.

Hss damaged the natural beauty of the Three gorges with the increased water levels.

Displacement of about 1 - 2 million people due to the flooding of the dam.

Water near cities down stream have become more polluted due to decrease water levels.

Erosion of area upstream of the dam and sedimentation effects down stream.

The increase of the weight from the water on the surroundings may cause induced seismicity

It now becomes a national security concerns (terrorism)

Answer 6

Founded in 200 A.D., the rustic village is a living museum that might seem more destined as a World Heritage Site than a construction site. Designed entirely out of stone and wood in the diaojiaolou-style stilt architecture, the Ming dynasty-era homes are perched against the sloping gorge, facing the sheer, misty palisades which flank the Wu rapids.

Steep, mossy steps lead up from the rocky banks and a single, black flagstone path, polished from centuries of footsteps, traces the 2 kilometer length of the quiet village, a veritable portrait of mountain life as it has been for almost 2,000 years. The slat-wood buildings progress vertically, each offering an increasingly attractive panoramic vista of slate rooftops, the hallmark site of this ancient village.

Unfortunately, the intricately carved work of art that is Gongtan will soon be thrown together in a fateful pyre as the Tujia populous move several kilometers upriver to a white-tiled eyesore already suffering from the noise, pollution and congestion indicative of so many new side-of-the-road Chinese communities.

The land expropriation was in fact opposed by Gongtan residents, who successfully petitioned the central government in Beijing over the property confiscation and were awarded financial compensation for their centuries-old homes. Nonetheless, many Gongtan villagers still refuse to evacuate the aged neighborhood, thus delaying power plant construction until at least the fall of 2007.

This last-ditch effort to d**n the dam is of course no match for the bulldozers, but it at least leaves an extended window of opportunity for travelers with an affinity for Chinese history to catch one last glimpse of the real deal before Gongtan is inevitably sent to its watery grave.