Historically, these different environments (bay, marsh, coastal forest) have been studied independently from each other, with intense focus on their future morphodynamic change or carbon processes. While the coastal zone is a relatively short distance, it can span wildly different ecosystems largely dependent on elevation relative to sea level. Coastal ecosystems provide many benefits, ranging from wildlife habitat and flooding protection to enhanced carbon storage. This is already seeing the spread of Chinese dam-building technology beyond its borders.Rapid climate change and sea level rise directly impacts the world’s coastlines, affecting the processes that govern their formation and persistence. "So these look like correct decisions but only at the moment."Ĭhina's use of hydropower as a key climate change solution is also being exported to other countries.ĭeveloping countries, especially in Asia, see China as leading the way in terms of economic-growth driven poverty alleviation. "Many hydropower projects were given the green light because decisions were made based on the interests of the current generation, instead of generations to follow. "People tend to measure a kind of energy by its carbon emission levels the less the cleaner - hydropower may not generate carbon emissions but it can cause severe ecological consequences," he said. He says gauging clean energy solely by carbon emissions is misleading. Ma Zhong is the Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources and the prestigious Renmin University. Given the pressure of global climate change, scientists concerned about fish species are finding it hard to have their voice heard. Local officials hope that an increased reliance on hydro-power could improve the air quality for millions of people. In Chongqing, China's major city in the West of the country, the air is heavily polluted by coal-fired power. The project has already been halted once. It is close to the city of Chongqing and near the only fish reserve on the Chinese mainland.Īs well as blocking the journey of fish eggs as they float downstream, a Chinese Ministry of Agriculture report says that the power generating turbines would squash the eggs. The new dam will be built 700 kilometres upstream from the Three Gorges Dam. If the Xiaonanhai Dam goes ahead they say that a large number of fish species will not survive. Local water authorities have just approved the construction of another dam on the Yangtze which is being criticised by scientists. Before human beings build big dams or other projects with large environmental consequences, we should think about other creatures." The Earth doesn't just belong to human beings, it belongs to all living creatures. "If they can't swim to their special grounds, one possibility is they can find a new place - the other possibility is that they may become extinct," he said. He told the ABC that he is worried about the future prospects of the fish. Zhu Xin is senior zoologist at the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute in Yichang, Hubei Province. The Yangtze River sturgeon looks like it still belongs in prehistoric times - it first appeared on earth 140 million years ago and can grow to four metres long.īecause of the presence of dams, it is now a species under threat. The more dams you build, the less coal-fired power stations you will need, but these dams are also blocking fish from getting to their spawning grounds and Chinese scientists are predicting that many species could face extinction as a result. It and other hydro-electric dams are seen by the Chinese government as a key part of the fight against climate change. The Three Gorges Dam is what engineers dream of - the fulfilment of decades of planning. It is a massive source of water which is being pumped to the arid north and now a source of hydro-electricity. The Yangtze officially divides China's north from its south. Industrial pollution has taken a heavy toll on all of China's major rivers and now there is new pressure. Many believe that they are now gone forever. Attempts to find them over the last three years have all failed. While China is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, it has also been applauded by green groups for rolling out renewable energy on an unparalleled scale.īut because climate change has become for many the world's most pressing environmental concern, the detrimental effects of some types of renewable energy are at times being overlooked.Ĭhinese scientists are coming up against this problem first-hand.Ĭhina's mighty Yangtze River was until recently the home of freshwater dolphins.
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