China’s mind-bending megadam plan could see international tensions explode

www.news.com.au... 854291b75c33

They want to build the world’s biggest and most ambitious megadam to turn that remote sheer drop off the Great Bend into a powerful source of hydro-electric energy, the likes of which the world has never seen before.

The party revealed the ambitious project in its 14th five-year plan, a series of guidelines spelling out China’s priorities, which they rarely deviate from.

However, this latest plan is being seen as a step too far by many analysts who say it would be the riskiest construction project of all time.

They say the remote region is almost impossible to access with the heavy equipment needed to build a megadam, and it lies in a heavily active seismic area that is not far from the epicentre of one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded.

Deadly landslides are also commonplace in this part of the world and would only be exacerbated by a huge construction project.

the site is in the Himalayas
India fears that some of their water would be siphoned off

let's try to keep an eye on this project...

a reply to: ElGoobero

Link is not working

originally posted by: ElGoobero
www.news.com.au... 854291b75c33

Fixed Link


If they do move forward with this plan, I hope nature fights back hard enough that they are forced to abandon the whole project and just call it a loss.

In the world’s deepest and longest canyon, the Yarlung Tsangpo River – the highest major river on Earth which flows almost 3000km through China, India and Bangladesh – suddenly takes a dramatic 180-degree hairpin turn known as the Great Bend.

From one side of the Great Bend to the other there’s a sheer drop in elevation of more than 2000m that has captured China’s imagination for many years.

The Chinese are already pissing the folks off down stream as the water flow-age has decreased greatly in many of the major rivers that feed much of S.E. Asia..... YET....What are the downstream countries gonna do; complain to the U.N. and ask China "pretty Please, can we have some water" !! Just another way of controlling your neighbors IMO and providing electricity to your own growing infrastructure projects. .

a reply to: ElGoobero

Meh, they can build a dam in their country if they want to.

a reply to: BrokenCircles

That's pretty. It'd be a real shame if they ruin it.

a reply to: tamusan

Also just goes to show everyone that it doesn't matter what we do as far as climate change China is playing by their own rules.

originally posted by: BlankUsername
a reply to: ElGoobero

Meh, they can build a dam in their country if they want to.

China and India have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) concerning the sharing of the water in this particular river (the Yarlung Tsangpo river that becomes the Brahmaputra river in India). So under the rules of the MOU, China can only use a certain amount of that river's water.

Granted, it isn't a binding treaty, but it seems China didn't want to sign a binding treaty maybe for this very reason -- because perhaps they had plans to not honor their side of the agreement in the MOU.

a reply to: BlankUsername

Meh, they can build a dam in their country if they want to.

So, you don't mind that China will be slowing down the Earths rotation yet again? And this time to a greater amount because of more water involved.

Kinetica

a reply to: tamusan
I tell people all of the time that it doesn't matter what we do for pollution unless we get China onboard.

a reply to: beyondknowledge

WHAT? Do you honestly think there is anything humans can do that will slow down Earth's rotation?

a reply to: BlankUsername

DIdn't check the link did you? Go on, It is not that scary.

They already did it with the Three Gorges Dam.

The sagging Three Gorges Dam wasn't lesson enough for China on such projects? Do the same thing twice, only much more difficult this time, and expect different results?

originally posted by: BlankUsername
Meh, they can build a dam in their country if they want to.

Problem is India and Bangladesh are downstream. I wouldn't be too happy either at the prospect of the river being significantly reduced or even cut off as China fills the dam. Nor with the risk of an Apocalyptic-scale disaster if something ever did go wrong.

a reply to: beyondknowledge

I did read the link. NASA can not say that the earth slowed down 6 hundreths of a millionth of a second. They have now way to measure the earths rotation with that much accuracy. They are guessing with no proof

a reply to: gb540

Then that is between China, India ,and Bangladesh not us in the U.S. I miss the days of only knowing local news. This affects the rest of us ZERO

originally posted by: BlankUsername
a reply to: beyondknowledge

WHAT? Do you honestly think there is anything humans can do that will slow down Earth's rotation?

Yes, the Three Gorges Dam, you know the largest one in the world....the one that is on verge of complete collapse within a decade.

It slowed Earth's rotation. It's extremely minuscule, but it sure did do just that.

Now they want to build a bigger one?

Umm...sometimes things you do in your own country literally affect your neighboring countries, and the entire planet earth itself.

Would you feel the same way if the USA decided to dam up the Colorado river, essentially cutting a huge fresh water supply to Mexico?

a reply to: BlankUsername

Every GPS unit and every observitory on Earth was affected by it, along with every space launch. How can it not be noticed?

The day is .000006 seconds longer. That is 0.0021915 seconds per year. That is 0.21915 seconds in 100 years.

If you want distance at the equator, that is 0.1095644 inches per day every day. That is 2.782936mm per day every day for those wanting metric.

originally posted by: BlankUsername
a reply to: beyondknowledge

I did read the link. NASA can not say that the earth slowed down 6 hundreths of a millionth of a second. They have now way to measure the earths rotation with that much accuracy. They are guessing with no proof

Oh dang, just realized you are going to be one of those flat-earthers

Not like satellites and mathematical computations could ever come to such a conclusion.

Have fun here!

originally posted by: BlankUsername
a reply to: gb540

Then that is between China, India ,and Bangladesh not us in the U.S. I miss the days of only knowing local news. This affects the rest of us ZERO

Leave the thread then

originally posted by: BlankUsername
a reply to: gb540

Then that is between China, India ,and Bangladesh not us in the U.S. I miss the days of only knowing local news. This affects the rest of us ZERO

Agreed that details between China and their neighbors on this is between them.

However... if China pulls this off, it'll be one more reason they'll be expecting a better place at the adult's table. And if they fail in catastrophe with large scale loss of life downstream, it would pull in other nations. (Unless of course everyone goes "peace for our time" and looks the other way, kinda like what's going on with Covid...).