Yangtze, or Chang Jiang river, is the longest river in Asia, and the third longest river in the world. And, the world largest dam, the Three Gorges dam, is located on Yangtze. The Three Gorges dam is a controversial topic. It was built for many reasons, some of them being to produce HEP or to control the amount of water allowed through to prevent huge floods.

Yet, there were still smaller floods going on around the Yangtze river. Ever since the dam was built, the water quality of the Yangtze reduced, and caused the water level to rise and fluctuate dramatically, therefore damaging the banks- landslides are happening, river and coastal erosion increasing, damaging houses and forcing people to move. The beauty of the Yangtze river was long gone. It is even believed that the Chinese river dolphin went extinct in 2006 due to the silt and poor quality of the water.

Despite the problems the Dam has brought to China, its advantages cannot be ignored. As you probably know, China’s air quality is not the best. Most of it was caused by the massive use of fossil fuels, especially coal. However, the Three Gorges Dam is, after all, a Hydroelectric power station. The amount of Hydroelectric power (HEP) produced form the dam is massive, providing power for 1/3 of the households in China. This is equal to burning 50 million tonnes of raw coal per year. China no longer depends heavily on burning coal, thereby reducing its great amount of CO2 emissions.

In conclusion, I think that building the Three Gorges Dam was worth it. Global warming is a huge problem in the world, and China is one of its worst accomplices (being the country that produces the most CO2 emissions). As the Dam continue to do their jobs and reduce the use of fossil fuels in China, China can finally retire from its heavy throne of emitting the most CO2 and help the cause of slowing down Global warming. However, I also believe that the government should do much more to help the people who are constantly living in fear of landslides and collapsing houses, and take much more care of the people living in the danger. If the government want to make the project of the Three Gorges Dam work, they will have to do much more to protect their people.