This lesson provides you with a case study of a major human modification to the environment, the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China. Many of the important issues facing modern society are the consequences – whether intended or unintended – of human modifications to the physical environment. Environmental modifications have economic, cultural, and political implications for most of the world's people, and therefore, it is important for you to understand the reasons for and the consequences of human modifications to the environment. The goal of this lesson is to analyze the costs, benefits, and impacts of the Three Gorges Dam.

Before you begin your case study on the Three Gorges Dam, let's examine another example of human modification to the environment, The Panama Canal, opened in 1914, is a manmade passageway that connected two major waterways and transformed worldwide travel. View the presentation below to see how the human modification of the environment continues to impact the Panama Canal:

Panoramas: Expanding the Shortcut Between the Seas

 Describe how the expansion of the Panama Canal is an example of human modification of the environment.

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? 

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 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 a speech over your topic:
 

Interactive exercise. Assistance may be required. Examine the following terms/statements and determine if it is a positive or negative impact of the Three Gorges Dam and drag the term under the correct column.

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Read the following definitions and examples of Social and Political Impact of the Three Gorges Dam. On a separate sheet of paper, brainstorm examples of Social, Cultural, and Political impact on your own.

  1. Social/ Cultural Impact of the Three Gorges Dam- these are ways that the people and their culture change as a result of the Three Gorges Dam. Examples include: migration of people from one area to another. As a result of the building of the dam, this could also mean the loss of cities where people leave behind artifacts and change their way of life.
  2. Political Impact of the Three Gorges Dam- these are changes or actions that the government takes in response to the building of the dam. Examples include: Government compensation for displaced families; laws governing relocation of families; and government involvement and reaction to the building of the dam.

Watch the following video, "Living with the Three Gorges Dam". Use the information in the video and the information you have learned so far in this lesson, to fill out the chart that follows on the next page.

 

Interactive exercise. Assistance may be required. The Three Gorges Dam Impact Chart

Read the phrases below. Determine which type of impact is being described and drag the phrase into the corresponding column.

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