After 11 years, someone said that the drought in the Yangtze River was caused by the "Three Gorges Reservoir". Is that really true?
Today, the southern part of my country, especially the Yangtze River Basin, is experiencing a severe drought, which has brought the topic of silence for 11 years to people again: the drought in the Yangtze River is most likely caused by the Three Gorges Reservoir, is that really the case? How was the "Three Gorges Induced Drought Theory" proposed?
The "Three Gorges Project" was started in December 1994, and it took nearly 12 years before it finally completed the construction of the whole line in May 2006 and entered the initial operation stage. However, I did not expect that at the turn of summer and autumn in 2006, a very rare drought occurred in Chongqing. The situation was similar to this year. At that time, it was also since the beginning of summer, and the Sichuan-Chongqing region has been hot and rainy. After entering August, The drought situation has become very critical. In many places, the high temperature of more than 40 degrees Celsius continues. Not only the rivers have dried up, but even the wells in many villages are running out of water. In order to save water, people are reluctant to take a bath in the hot summer. However, this is the case. In Chongqing alone, 21 million people have been affected by the drought, and the affected area of crops has exceeded 1.32 million hectares, resulting in a loss of 9.07 billion yuan to the world economy. The entire drought lasted until early September. With the cold air from the north finally moving south, bringing precipitation to the Sichuan-Chongqing region, the drought was finally relieved. After that, Chongqing has been carrying out various drought-prevention work. The 2006 losses were repeated. Why are you telling everyone about this? This is because although when my country decided to build the "Three Gorges Reservoir", many foreign researchers questioned "not environmentally friendly". After all, the later situation also showed that after the completion of the Three Gorges, due to the closure of rivers, many migratory fish were indeed caused. The number of species has declined sharply, and even become endangered. However, foreign scholars have not paid much attention to the issues such as its impact on climate change and drought. It was only after the severe drought in Chongqing in 2006 that foreign scholars began to study whether there is a certain relationship between the Three Gorges and high temperature and drought. . For example, NASA in the United States was also involved in research at that time. Through the analysis of precipitation in the area around the Three Gorges from 2003 to 2009, it was believed that the existence of the Three Gorges directly caused the waterway system of the 660-kilometer Yangtze River to appear uncoordinated in water vapor movement. It also directly affects the climate of the surrounding areas, making these places more drier and hotter. However, NASA's research data has not received much recognition, because they only analyzed precipitation and demonstrated that the data is not sufficient. Later, in 2011, another severe drought was found in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, which affected not only the Sichuan and Chongqing regions, but also many provinces such as Anhui, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Henan. At this time, not only foreign scholars Questioning again, even many people in China have mentioned the claim that "the Three Gorges induces drought". So, is this really the case? "Three Gorges Reservoir" will cause drought in the Yangtze River?
After the completion of the Three Gorges, it will indeed have a certain impact on the climate of the surrounding areas. However, the affected area will not be the entire middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. According to the data in the Environmental Impact Report of the Three Gorges Water Control Project , the maximum impact range will not exceed 10 kilometers. This also means that the drought problem in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in my country has nothing to do with the Three Gorges, but is caused by extreme weather caused by global warming. Take this year as an example, as early as June to July, some experts pointed out that the high temperature and drought in the northern hemisphere this year were all affected by the abnormal atmospheric circulation. , blocking the entry of cold air, so that there will be clear weather, and will further enhance the solar radiation reaching the ground. Naturally, where the precipitation decreases and the temperature remains above 35 degrees Celsius, droughts are prone to occur. These have nothing to do with the Three Gorges Project. On the contrary, if the water storage of the Three Gorges Reservoir is not stable, it is very likely that the current drought will become more serious. Therefore, the Three Gorges Reservoir will not induce drought, but will alleviate it. For example, in order to cope with the drought in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River this year, my country has continued to replenish water to the Yangtze River through the Three Gorges Reservoir since August 16. If it were not for the water supply of the Three Gorges, many rivers would not be water level. lowered, but will be completely dry. What's more, after the construction of the Three Gorges, it still has a very important value of flood control, shipping and power generation. It can be said that although it will indeed have a certain impact on the surrounding ecological environment, in fact, my country has been remediating and protecting it all these years. Try to minimize the impact on the species. On the whole, the Three Gorges Project will benefit everyone. It is a good project that benefits the country and the people. Therefore, everyone should not think that the drought is caused by the Three Gorges without knowing the cause. You must know that the Three Gorges are really "Very wrong". Friends, what do you think?