(May 1, 2008) The Richter scale provides an objective way of measuring and comparing the size of earthquakes using a mathematical device.
Leading Causes of Dam Failure
(May 1, 2008) Overtopping occurs when the level of a reservoir exceeds the capacity or height of the dam. This can be caused by an inadequate or dysfunctional spillway or by settlement of the dam crest (for an explanation of settlement, see foundation defects).
THREE GORGES ORAL HISTORY SERIES: Absence of Justice: Lu Chengming’s Struggle for Compensation
Translation by Madeleine Ross and Fang Li
(download pdf)
Establishment of Zigui GPS-CR Landslide Monitoring Network in the Three Gorge reservoir area
(April 26, 2008) To apply INSAR observation technique to the Three Gorge Reservoir’s landslide monitoring, we’ve installed 10 corner reflectors on the landslide within Zigui county of the Three Gorge Reservoir area, meanwhile, set up GPS observation point, preliminarily forming GPS-CR landslide monitoring network. This paper of both INSAR observation technique and GPS observation technique in landslide monitoring researches.
Three Gorges transmission lines down amid power shortages
Heavy snowstorms felled three power transmission towers along a majorline of the Three Gorges dam, disrupting a link in central China’s transmission system, Xinhua news agency reported last month.
Storm-damaged power grids and chronic shortages of coal, which fuels three quarters of China’s electricity supply, have contributed to power shortages that have forced more than a dozen provinces to ration electricity.
Olympics water diversion scheme threatens millions
(March 11, 2008) In an interview with the London-based Financial Times, An Qingyuan, a former communist party chief, said the diversion of water to Beijing for the Olympics and for big hydropower projects threatens the lives of millions of peasant farmers in China’s north-western provinces.
British insurance broker awarded Three Gorges contract
A London-based insurance broker, Willis Group Holdings, has been awarded a two-year contract as the insurance consultant for the Three Gorges project, according to Joy Shaw, correspondent for MarketWatch in Shanghai.
Financial Times: Three Gorges dam repeats “stupid mistake”
Former communist party chief An Qingyuan is quoted saying the Sanmenxia dam on the Yellow River was a “stupid mistake” that has brought “severe disasters to the people living near the river.” He and others warn that Sanmenxia sets a disastrous precedent for the much larger Three Gorges project.
Landslide hits town near China’s Three Gorges dam
(April 20, 2008) Emergency workers are still trying to rescue almost 200 people from a village that was nearly inundated by a massive landslide near the Three Gorges dam in central China on Saturday, the official Xinhua news agency reports.
Chongqing: A tale of two cities
The Toronto Star highlights Chongqing, the world’s fastest growing metropolis of 32 million at the upper end of the Three Gorges reservoir.
Alexander Sack and Odious Debts: A Response to Ludington and Gulati
(April 15, 2008) In their paper’s abstract, Gulati and Ludington set out to expose the “murky reality” of the life of Alexander Nahum Sack, and how this reality conflicts with the “myth perpetuated in the odious debts literature.” The dominant theme, though insinuated rather than stated clearly, is that the odious debts movement has deliberately exaggerated Sack’s eminence in order to establish the doctrine as customary international law. The authors also make few distinctions among the various organizations in the debt forgiveness movement. I would recommend that the authors stick to the facts rather than assign motives, and be precise in their charges rather than employing broad brushes.
China’s Three Gorges dam: An environmental catastrophe?
(April 8, 2008) Fan Xiao, a geologist at the Bureau of Geological Exploration and Exploitation of Mineral Resources in Sichuan province, is quoted saying recent landslides in the Three Gorges area are directly linked to filling the reservoir. Water first seeps into the loose soil at the base of the area’s rocky cliffs, destabilizing the land and making it prone to slides.
Voters strike blow against corruption
(April 7, 2008) In a country where corruption is a way of life, the election result is a breathe of fresh air.
The myth of Jatropha
(April 4, 2008) Superlatives abound whenever the talk turns to Jatropha. In a very short time the tropical shrub has mutated from being a poisonous wild plant into the world’s miracle plant for agrofuel production. But as has been demonstrated in India, this does not mean the end of the competition between gas tank and plate.
China wrung dry of water for thirsty Olympics
(April 2, 2008) China is planning to divert billions of gallons of water hundreds of miles from drought-stricken regions to feed Olympic development in the capital Beijing.
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