Three Gorges Project doing its job well

Torrential rainfall has hit provinces in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River with water levels rising above the danger level at almost all places. This has prompted many to wonder whether the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River is serving its purpose, of alleviating, even preventing natural disasters. There are even rumors that the dam could increase the frequency of geological disasters.

But an undeniable fact is that the Three Gorges Dam has prevented heavy storms and floods from hitting areas in the downstream of the Yangtze River. The El Nino phenomenon this year, which would result in heavy storms in China's southern provinces and serious droughts in Southeast and South Asia and South America, has much to do with the high and still increasing carbon emissions worldwide.

As the largest hydropower project in the world, the Three Gorges Dam is helping reduce carbon emission by generating electricity from water instead of fossil fuel. It generates about 100 billion kilowatt hours a year, which means it is saving 50 million tons of steam coal and cutting carbon dioxide emission by about 100 million tons. For a better perspective, the world's total CO2 emission was 32.3 billion tons in 2014, suggesting the Three Gorges Project can save about 0.3 percent of global CO2 emission.