The Three Gorges Dam's Impact: Unprecedented Heatwaves and Harsh Drought | TDTV

Experienced temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius for over a month, with the highest temperature reaching 45 degrees Celsius. According to official reports, this is the hottest summer China has experienced since meteorological records began in 1961. Half of China's regions are currently experiencing varying degrees of drought, particularly in the Yangtze River Basin. So, is Chongqing's high temperature and China's drought normal? How is it caused? If it is caused because China is in a monsoon climate zone, it is controlled by this subtropical high pressure. If there is a special situation, it will cause this high temperature and less rainfall. This has happened in history, but it is not a frequent occurrence. So Chongqing is originally known as the furnace, right? There are several furnaces on the Yangtze River such as Nanjing, Wuhan, and Hanguo, which are also known as furnaces. This year should be the longest duration of high temperatures in Hangzhou. It should be said that there are records of high temperatures and droughts in history, but this year the situation is a bit more extreme. Mr. Wang Weiluo, an expert in territorial spatial planning currently residing in Germany completed his undergraduate studies in the Department of Geography at Nanjing University and later pursued degrees from a bachelor's to a doctorate at Dortmund University in Germany, where he also taught for over 10 years. Mr. Wang has been conducting extensive research on flood disasters in China and has written several books with opposing views on the Three Gorges Dam. He shared his assessments and findings to explain the reasons behind the high temperatures and severe drought in Siqiuan and their connection to the Three Gorges Dam. Before the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the highest temperature recorded in Chongqing was 42.5 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature you mentioned is the highest recorded in history. That was when the Three Gorges Project was being carried out. We need to collect historical data and study the impact of the Three Gorges Project on the surrounding climate. So, in this document, it is recorded that the highest temperature before the construction of the Three Gorges Project was 42.5 degrees Celsius. You must understand that ancient times there were no meteorological temperature measurements, no thermometers. So, since 1961, probably even earlier, maybe in the 1950s, because meteorological stations were established in the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River. 1961 is the year when meteorological stations were established in various cities and counties in China. It's just that in the feasibility reported the Three Gorges Project, it was mentioned that the highest temperature before that was 42.5 degrees. Mr. Wang Weiluo has also worked in the Three Gorges area for a long time. He went to school in Nanjing. At that time, there was a debate about whether it was hot in Nanjing or Chongqing or Wuhan. Then, in 2006, during the Sichuan-Chongqing drought, the highest temperature recorded that summer was 44.5 degrees Celsius, and this year it has reached 45 degrees, the highest. In fact, China releases the highest temperatures every day, and most of them are concentrated in the Three Gorges Reservoir area. Sometimes it's Fengji, sometimes it's Wuxi, both are in the Three Gorges Reservoir area. High temperatures are related to the Three Gorges Reservoir area and the Three Gorges Project. But let's put it this way. In the feasibility study of the Three Gorges Project, there is an ecological and environmental group, and this year someone dug out an article from 2002. At that time, a reporter from Chongqing Evening News said that according to Chinese research, the Chinese Academy of Sciences' research, the Three Gorges Reservoir is like an air conditioner. It can reduce the highest temperature in the Three Gorges Reservoir area by 4 degrees in summer and raise the lowest temperature by 3 degrees in winter. So it is called an air conditioner. The conclusion comes from where? It comes from the feasibility study of the Three Gorges Project, the ecological and environmental impact of the project. There are two reports in total, and they are done by two groups, the environmental group 1 and environmental group 2. The conclusion of the first report is that the impact of the Three Gorges Project on the ecological environment is more harmful than beneficial. But some harm can be restricted by human measures. Everyone, listen carefully. The conclusion of the first report is that the impact of the Three Gorges Project on the ecological environment is more harmful than beneficial. And then there was a modified sentence added later saying that some of the harm can be restricted by human measures. Huang Wanli did not agree with this sentence, and he did not sign it. So these two professors who participated in the Three Gorges Project's ecological and environmental group did not agree and did not sign it. Both of them did not sign it. Why? He made it clear. He disagreed with the second sentence that said some harm can be restricted by human measures. He said that we have not yet recognized many of the effects of the Three Gorges Project on the ecological environment. How can we say that we can find measures to limit its impact? The report was approved in July 1991. At the time of the report's approval, the conclusion of group 1 was still retained. But in the overall report, which is the overall feasibility report, the deputy group leader and technical head of the assessment team, Professor Pan Jiaxin, had already changed this conclusion. He didn't care about what the environmental group had written. He wrote it long ago. So the two reports are conflicting with each other. But the assessment has passed. The three leaders who participated in the review of the environmental group, the three leaders who chaired the three reviews, the first one is Director Ku Yeping of the China Environmental Protection Bureau. The second one is Zhao Guangqiao, the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The third one is the younger brother of Xia Jiaohua, who is the director of the China Meteorological Administration. The three of them led the certification review. And after the review was completed, just a few days later, in early August, a report was submitted to the State Council stating that this is not acceptable. The first report must be rejected. The first report is one that says the Three Gorges Project has more drawbacks than benefits. How to reject it? They said they found a procedural error, which is a serious mistake. Even according to foreigners, a procedural mistake is the most fatal mistake. There is a procedural error in this process, and this report is absolutely unacceptable. Then, after it was returned, when they returned it to the State Council, the Ministry of Water Resources was also involved in the planning of the Three Gorges Project. When they returned it to the State Council, they immediately approved the revised plan, which was released a few days later, and the first report was also signed. In the end, what he signed was not what the expert said, but what the leader said. So the person who changed this conclusion is not Professor Pan Jiachen, the deputy group leader. He was originally the leader, but when it was finally approved, he was no longer the leader. So he did not sign. So these two experts who went to the meeting of the leaders, Ku Jiping, director of the China Environmental Protection Bureau and Xu Guangqiao, the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, did not sign this conclusion. What about the third one? The director of the China Meteorological Administration, the younger brother of Zhao Huiyue, Zhou Jiang, did not sign it either. He did not sign this conclusion. So it passed. The Three Gorges Project was passed in this way. And this was just one of the conclusions. There was another conclusion that said the project could not be approved. That the project's conclusion was that it would not be approved. The project would not be approved. There was such a sentence in the document, but after the project was approved, there was no such sentence. So now, this is the background and process of the approval of the Three Gorges Project. How many people know this story? This is not known. And those who know don't dare to say it because it involves big names. This is the approval process of the Three Gorges Project. It's all true. It's not made up. If you don't believe it, you can go check it. In August, the Ministry of Water Resources began to check this matter, and now it has not been investigated. It has been investigated for more than a year and has not been announced. So we don't know the results yet. So this year, someone dug it out. An article from 2002. A reporter from Chongqing Evening News said, based on Chinese research, research from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, that the Three Gorges Reservoir is like an air conditioner. It can reduce the highest temperature in the Three Gorges Reservoir area by four degrees in the summer and increase the lowest temperature by three degrees in the winter. So it is called an air conditioner, a device that provides warmth in the winter and coolness in the summer. So where did this conclusion come from? It comes from the feasibility study of the Three Gorges Project, the Ecological and Environmental Impact Group's second report in the feasibility study of the Three Gorges Project. There were two reports on the impact on the ecological environment, done by what later became Environmental Group One and Environmental Group Two. The conclusion from one group was that the Three Gorges Project had more drawbacks than benefits, but some drawbacks could be restricted through human measures. Everyone, please listen carefully. The conclusion in the first report was that the Three Gorges Project had more drawbacks than benefits, and then they added a modified sentence saying that some drawbacks could be restricted through human measures. The two professors who participated in the Three Gorges Project's ecological and environmental group, one named Professor Hu Zhiyu, who was the consultant of this group and also the academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, did not sign it. Another one was Professor Chen Chengdu from Peking University, and he didn't sign it either. Both professors did not sign it. Professor Hu Zhiyu made it very clear. He disagreed with the later part, the sentence agreeing that some drawbacks could be restricted through human measures. He agreed with the earlier part, which said that the drawbacks outweighed the benefits. Why did he disagree? He said that we haven't yet recognized many of the effects of the Three Gorges Project on the ecological environment. How can we say that we can find measures to limit its impact? So he didn't agree, and he didn't sign it. Since this report was approved in July 1991, when the report was approved, the conclusion of Group 1 was still retained. However, in the overall report, the deputy group leader and the technical head of the assessment team, Professor Pan Jiaxin, had already changed this conclusion long ago. He didn't care about what the environmental group had written. He had written it long ago. So, the two reports conflicted with each other, but the assessment passed. The three leaders who participated in the review of the environmental group were Director Ku Guiping of the China Environmental Protection Bureau, Zhu Guangqiao, the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Zhou Zhiyang, the director of the China Meteorological Administration, and the younger brother of Zhou Huahua. They led the certification review. After the review was completed, just a few days later, in early August, a report was submitted to the State Council, stating that this was unacceptable. The first report had to be rejected. The first report stated that the Three Gorges Project had more drawbacks than benefits. How was it to be rejected? They said they found a procedural error, which was a serious mistake. Even according to foreigners, a procedural error is the most fatal mistake. What was the procedural error they found? They said the outline of the report had not been approved. You see, when you write an academic paper, your professors sometimes don't even read the outline to see if it's correct. The report's outline had not been approved, so this report was absolutely unacceptable. When they returned it to the State Council, the Ministry of Water Resources, which was also involved in planning the Three Gorges Project, immediately approved the revised report, which was released a few days later. The first report was also signed, but not by the expert. It was signed based on what the leaders said. The person who changed this conclusion was not the deputy group leader. He was originally the leader, but when it was finally approved, he was no longer the leader, so he didn't sign it. So, these two experts who attended the meeting with the leaders, Director Ku Geping of the China Environmental Protection Bureau and Xu Guangqiao, the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, didn't sign this conclusion. What about the third one? The director of the China Meteorological Administration, Zhou Yiyang, Zhou Yiyahua's younger brother, didn't sign it either. He didn't sign this conclusion, so it passed. This is how the Three Gorges Project was passed. He had to review the outline, and the outline needed to be approved before he could review it and write the report. So, they hurriedly made changes, and they managed to get the report approved in time for the National People's Congress to review the Three Gorges Project. Around February 1992, Director Ku Geping of the China Environmental Protection Bureau approved this report, which stated that the benefits outweighed the drawbacks. This process illustrates how intellectuals became political servants during the feasibility assessment of the Three Gorges Project. It's as if you wanted a certain result, and that's what they delivered. However, they left a loophole. You mentioned the experts who conducted the investigation. Mr. Wang couldn't find out who they were. However, he has found out where and how they changed the results. Until now, he has investigated this thoroughly. In this section about meteorology, it's stated that in the highest temperature periods, the Three Gorges Reservoir can lower the highest temperature by 4.5 degrees Celsius, and in winter, it can raise the temperature by 3 degrees Celsius. Professor Fang Zhiyun repeated this in his book Ecology and Environment, published in 1992 as part of the Three Gorges Project series by the Beijing Water Resources and Electric Power Publishing House. This was a set of books, and Professor Fang Zhiyun wrote the section on ecology and environment, where he repeatedly mentioned this concept of winter warmth and summer coolness, similar to an air conditioner, according to the latest data from Tsinghua University's professor Jianjun and his assistant Jiang Man, published in a 2018 article on recent changes in the flow regime in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and restoration measures. It's pointed out that the temperature in the reservoir area has been rising year by year. From 2004 to 2016, the average temperature was 0.6 degrees higher than from 1991 to 2002, far exceeding the global land surface temperature increase of 0.38 degrees. This temperature increase started in 2003 when the Three Gorges Reservoir began operation. So, this increase can be attributed to the Three Gorges Project. There are several reasons for the rising temperatures in the Three Gorges Reservoir area. One of the reasons is that the project's hydropower generators draw water from deep layers, not the surface. Water bodies, especially large ones, have a decreasing temperature profile from top to bottom, versus warmer, and the deeper layers are cooler. The hydropower generators only use the cooler water for electricity generation, leaving the warm surface water in the Three Gorges Reservoir. Furthermore, the Three Gorges Reservoir is not a typical large lake-like reservoir. It's relatively narrow, averaging only 1,000 meters wide and over 600 kilometers long, resembling a long, narrow line. It's also surrounded by mountainous terrain. This configuration results in high evaporation rates and can be likened to a sauna effect, where high temperatures and humidity are trapped. The area acts like a sauna, where the temperature rises but cannot easily dissipate due to its unique shape and geographical surroundings. China has another expert named Wang Hongqi, and his explanation goes like this. Originally, the wind comes from the east, which is the direction of China's monsoons. However, when the wind reaches the Three Gorges, it suddenly encounters a dam that is over 100 meters high. The wind cannot easily pass over this obstacle, and as a result, the circulation of air within the gorge becomes less smooth than before. This is one explanation. Another explanation is related to the flow rate of the water in the Three Gorges Reservoir. After the reservoir was formed, the flow rate of the water became much slower, causing it to carry away heat more slowly than it did before. In the face of many phenomena, scientists sometimes struggle to identify the exact cause and can only explain the observable effects. They can develop theories based on these explanations. As for whether this is the true cause, no definitive conclusion has been reached. This is because, in China, researching the drawbacks of the Three Gorges project is challenging. Researchers may not receive funding, support, or even face adverse consequences like Professor Xu. Therefore, few are willing to tackle such an unpopular and challenging topic, and they may not even consider publishing their findings. Regarding the issue of high temperatures, there are multiple possible explanations. Wind patterns may play a role in directing hot air into the Three Gorges region. Typically, China's monsoons come from the east. However, the wind encounters the high dam at the Three Gorges, which obstructs its passage, causing disruptions in airflow within the gorge. Furthermore, the characteristics of the reservoir, such as drawing colder water from deeper layers, can influence temperature. Therefore, high temperatures could have various explanations. Concerning the drought situation, it can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, there was less rainfall than usual during the flood season in July and August, although it was not entirely absent. Sichuan, for example, experienced flooding in July, which necessitated the emergency evacuation of nearly 50,000 people. Recently, Sichuan experienced heavy rain again, resulting in the urgent evacuation of almost 30,000 people. So, there was indeed rainfall, but it was less than the historical averages. Secondly, since the initiation of the Three Gorges project in China, a method called clear inflow-store-outflow has been used to reduce sediment deposition. This method is based on diverting sediment-laden water out of the reservoir, retaining only clean water. While this method effectively addresses sediment-related issues, it may cause the water level to drop, which could impact downstream regions. Moreover, many new dams and reservoirs have been constructed upstream from the Three Gorges to intercept sediment, as recommended by Professor Huang Wanlei. However, this measure has led to unintended consequences. The Yangtze River below the Three Gorges now has a diminished sediment load, which has resulted in deeper riverbeds. As a result, when the water flow rate is low, the river level becomes lower. In some areas, it has dropped by 1 to 10 meters. Consequently, with less sediment in the river, it can have a more forceful impact on the riverbed, causing erosion and deepening the river's channel. The significance of sediment in the Yangtze River for China is substantial. Before the Three Gorges project, the Yangtze River sediment deposition annually reclaimed large areas of land, about 100,000 acres, near its mouth at locations like South Nantong City and Shanghai. Fertile farmland is what Shanghai used to be known for. In Shanghai, every inch of land is highly valuable, but the sediment deposits that once enriched the soil have significantly diminished. This has given rise to new challenges. Shanghai's coastline is receding, causing the city to shrink as its land area diminishes. This poses a substantial threat to Shanghai's future development, as it lacks the necessary land reserves. Another issue is the reduced water flow in the area. With the decrease in water levels, saltwater intrusion becomes a problem. We witnessed saltwater intrusion in Shanghai during the flooding season in July and August this year. It affected the city's water supply plants. Previously, Shanghai sourced most of its water from the Yangtze River, having established two reservoirs on the river to secure this supply. However, the dwindling water levels in the Yangtze River now make it impossible to access this water directly. To address this, water is transferred from upstream locations into Taihu Lake and then directed into the Huangpu River to supply water to Shanghai. While this water is technically still from the Yangtze, this process exacerbates the issue of falling water levels and saltwater intrusion in the river delta. Unexpectedly, the true economic victim of the Three Gorges Dam project is Shanghai. Each year, Shanghai loses around 100,000 mu, the Chinese measurement for area of fertile land, due to the sediment reduction. Additionally, the decline in water levels in the river's mouth has had adverse effects on areas such as Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake. Jiangxi province has even considered building a dam to block water from flowing into Poyang Lake, as this lake is struggling to retain water. As for Poyang Lake, much of its area has already dried up, except for a small remaining section of 600 to 800 square kilometers. Historically, it was much larger, exceeding over 10,000 square kilometers. Similarly, Dongting Lake, which feeds into the Yangtze River at Yuyang, faces significant issues due to the influence of the South-North Water Diversion and Yangtze River Water Diversion projects. The water levels at the Yanyang Hydrological Station have dropped significantly, an issue even captured in the famous Chinese poem, Yanyang Tower, by Fan Zhongyan. The decline in flow rate in the Yangtze River is also a concerning issue, as revealed by Professor Zhe Yanjun. The annual average flow rate has decreased by 11 percent. To provide context, prior to these changes, the Yichang Station on the Yangtze River had an annual average flow rate of over 450 billion cubic meters. Now, it has dwindled to around 400 billion cubic meters, equivalent to the annual flow of the Yellow River. The impact of these changes extends beyond flood risks. It encompasses challenges such as the loss of fertile land and saltwater intrusion in the Yangtze River Delta. It's also easy to cause droughts because of this relationship. Here's how it works. We mentioned earlier why it's prone to causing floods. It's because the storage capacity of the reservoirs on the main stem of the Yangtze River is too small. For example, the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, according to official data, has a storage capacity of 39.3 billion cubic meters. As mentioned earlier, before the Three Gorges Dam was built, the flow rate at the dam site was 450 billion cubic meters. This means the dam only holds 9 percent of the annual flow rate. Now, let's compare this to the Aswan Dam, which has a similar storage capacity and can store the entire annual flow of the river. However, because of the small storage capacity of these Chinese reservoirs and concerns about dam safety, when a flood arrives, the reservoirs often release water without warning instead of storing it for flood control or water conservation. This leads to more frequent downstream flooding due to the construction of many reservoirs. And following the operation plan of regulating, storing, and clearing water as we discussed earlier, China's central government has issued an order to reduce the water levels in these reservoirs almost simultaneously. The report on the Zhengzhou flood disaster issued by the State Council earlier this year played a role of admonition, similar to when Dr. Li Wenlang was made to sign a warning letter at the police station at the onset of the Wuhan COVID-19 outbreak. After that, there were no more doctors in China voicing concerns. So, authorities have followed the central government's orders to release water from the reservoirs as part of their flood control measures. That's why the water levels in the reservoirs are particularly low today. They all released their water back in April and May anticipating the flood season. However, this time, the weather didn't cooperate because there was little to no rainfall. This has resulted in lower water levels in the reservoirs and subsequently impacted hydroelectric power generation. This issue arises from China's planned economy, where the central government's orders are followed almost in unison. The report on the Zhengzhou flood disaster by the State Council played a role of admonition, similar to the practice with Dr. Li Wenlang. The central government's orders have been disseminated to all levels of government and reservoir management, and they have released water from the reservoirs ahead of time to be prepared for potential floods. But this time, nature didn't follow the expected pattern. Since then, there has been little rainfall. This has led to lower water levels in the reservoirs, and people have been talking about power shortages. This situation is a consequence of the central government's orders. Following the report on the Zhengzhou flood disaster, it highlights how centralized planning affects local water management and power generation, which in turn has economic and energy implications. The Zhengzhou flood disaster report had an instructional role in ensuring everyone follows the orders from the central government, just like the situation with Dr. Li Wenlang during the early days of the Wuhan COVID-19 outbreak, where he signed a warning letter at the police station and no other doctors voiced concerns afterwards. Think central government's instructions regarding the reservoirs have been followed in a coordinated manner, leading to the early release of water. However, when nature doesn't align with this approach, it results in the issues we're seeing today, including low water levels and