A high-profile Chinese geologist and environmentalist, and the author of several reports for Probe International. Fan Xiao is the former chief engineer of the Regional Geological Survey Team of the Sichuan Geology and Mineral Bureau.
A new study focused on the 6.8 M Luding earthquake in China’s Sichuan-Yunnan seismic zone, shows how dams make areas susceptible to earthquakes directly (through RIS) and indirectly by altering geological structures, […]
Two strong and separate earthquakes rattled northwest and southwest China this month – one of them the strongest since the devastating Wenchuan earthquake of 2008. The series of May quakes are part of […]
Since the impoundment of the Three Gorges reservoir began in 2003, tens of thousands of earthquakes have been recorded in the reservoir area. Chinese geologist and environmentalist, Fan Xiao, looks at the […]
Because the project’s flood control capacity doesn’t work.
Images taken by Chinese geologist and environmentalist Fan Xiao during trips to the Three Gorges Dam reservoir area in 2012 and 2013, portray the dramatic changes that have taken place since the dam’s construction more than 20 years ago.
Twenty years after the completion of China’s monumental Three Gorges Dam, a new study by Chinese geologist Fan Xiao finds the mega-project’s impacts on his hometown of Chongqing, some 600 kilometres upstream, have been dramatic. Lost in the dam’s grand scale are the harsh consequences borne by the region’s environment and economy; its after-effects are felt most intensely by the individuals and communities struggling to adapt in the immense shadow of China’s largest public works effort since the Great Wall.
In the wake of the 6.5-magnitude earthquake in China’s Yunnan Province on August 3 that claimed the lives of more than 600 people, Chinese geologist Fan Xiao has released new data that supports a link between that event and the region’s mega-dams.
(February 3, 2014) Chinese geologist Fan Xiao investigates once again if the impoundment of a large dam reservoir triggered a series of earthquakes in the seismically active southwest region of China? Based on data collected by China Seismic Information (CSI), Mr. Fan says, ‘Yes’. Not only were the November 22, 2013, seismic events recorded in Sichuan, China not naturally occurring or isolated incidents, he says the region should prepare for stronger, “even destructive earthquakes” as a result of further impoundment.
(December 12, 2012) A new study published by Probe International reveals a dangerous relationship between dam reservoirs and seismic activity.
(January 6, 2012) The Xiaonanhai hydro project slated for the Yangtze River poses a threat to China’s most precious wild fish and the supremacy of the law, say Chinese environmentalists and scientists.
(July 18, 2011) In a remarkably candid piece, the Communist Party mouthpiece, Global Times, quotes critics saying there isn’t enough water in China’s rivers to divert north under the government’s South-North Water Transfer scheme.
(March 25, 2011) Chinese geologist and environmentalist Fan Xiao has sent a letter to high ranking Chinese officials, urging them not to destroy the rare fish conservation zone they’ve created on the Yangtze. Plans are in the works to build the Xiaonanhai dam within the conservation zone, which would be the second time the Government redrew the zone to accommodate dams. Building the dam would violate the government’s own environmental protection rules, and would put over 100 rare species of fish at risk. He calls for public hearings and an administrative review, in hopes of convincing officials to abandon the plan.
(November 24, 2010) As China’s government continues its push for “green” energy, the construction of dams are increasingly becoming the preferred method to do so. But a growing chorus of critics are openly questing the environmental credentials of hydro power.
(June 20, 2010) Fan Xiao, Chief engineer of the Regional Geology Investigation Team of the Sichuan Geology and Mineral Bureau, says dams were the real trigger of a massive landslide in Kangding County in China’s southwestern Sichuan province.
(January 26, 2009) Fan Xiao, Chief Engineer of the Regional Geology Investigation Team of the Sichuan Geology and Mineral Bureau, says scientists must investigate if Zipingpu dam triggered devastating 2008 earthquake, describes massive quake-damage to dams, rebuts recent Science Times article.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
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