Importance of TGD. Paper Example

Thesis Statement: Even though Three Gorges dam has resulted in complexities in the ecosystem, low productivity of fish food, and changed the pattern of seasonal inundation of Poyang Lake, it controls flood, enhances power generation, conserves biodiversity, and the energy fuels economic growth

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Advantages of the Three Gorges Dam

Increasing the Yangtze River's navigability and controlling floods (Li, Zhu, Wu, & Huang, 2013).

It enhances power generation that is a significant service of rivers (Liu, Liu, & Yang, 2019)

The energy fuels the rate of economic growth by 8 to 10% from the 1980s to 1990s and changes the People's Republic of China into a significant energy equipment producer (Qing, & Sullivan, 1999).

"Biodiversity conservation in the riparian and aquatic ecosystems" as it hosts about 160 fish species, 500 terrestrial vertebrates, and 6000 plant species (Fu e al., 2010).

It improves the ecosystem, for instance, before the dam construction the ecosystem value service of the river was 4.82×1021 sej·yr−1, and after the dam construction, it is 7.65×1021 sej·yr−1 (Liu, Liu, & Yang, 2019). An indication that it has increased by about 58%.

Produces electricity and navigates 3G dam (Jackson & Sleigh, 2001)

Disadvantages of the Three Gorges Dam

TGD operations change the pattern of seasonal inundation of Poyang Lake that further reduces monthly Inundation Frequencies (Wu & Liu, 2017).

"A low nutrient concentration from clean water discharge from the dam, working interactively with low water temperature from hypolimnetic discharge, may induce low productivity and a shortage of food availability for fish" (Song et al., 2019).

It has resulted in complexities in the ecosystem (Wu & Liu, 2017).

References

Fu, B. J., Wu, B. F., Lü, Y. H., Xu, Z. H., Cao, J. H., Niu, D., ... & Zhou, Y. M. (2010). Three Gorges Project: efforts and challenges for the environment. Progress in Physical Geography, 34(6), 741-754.

Jackson, S., & Sleigh, A. C. (2001). The political economy and socioeconomic impact of China's Three Gorges dam. Asian Studies Review, 25(1), 57-72.

Li, K., Zhu, C., Wu, L., & Huang, L. (2013). Problems caused by the Three Gorges Dam construction in the Yangtze River basin: a review. Environmental Reviews, 21(3), 127-135.

Liu, C., Liu, G., & Yang, Q. (2019). An Emergy-based Assessment of the Impact of Dam Construction on River Ecosystem Service Values: A Case Study of the Three Gorges Dam. Journal of Environmental Accounting and Management, 7 (3), 337-361.

Qing, D., & Sullivan, L. R. (1999). The Three Gorges Dam and China's Energy Dilemma. Journal of International Affairs, 53-71.

Song, Y., Cheng, F., Ren, P., Wang, Z., & Xie, S. (2019). Longitudinal recovery gradients of drifting larval fish assemblages in the middle reach of the Yangtze River: impact of the Three Gorges Dam and conservation implementation. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 76(12), 2256-2267.

Wu, G., & Liu, Y. (2017). Assessment of the hydro-ecological impacts of the Three Gorges Dam on China's largest freshwater lake. Remote Sensing, 9(10), 1069.