The dam is some 1.4 miles (2.3 kilometers) long and 607 feet (185 meters) tall—five times larger than the U.S.'s Hoover Dam. Construction workers used some 21 million cubic yards (16 million cubic meters) of concrete in the structure—a world record. Upstream of the dam, the reservoir's water level is presently 456 feet (139 meters) above sea level, and it's expected to rise quickly. The 410-mile-long (660-km-long) reservoir will eventually be flooded to 574 feet (175 meters) above sea level. A Hundred Lives, Billions of Dollars Chinese state media reports that over a hundred workers died during the lengthy construction project.
- Sandy damaged or destroyed 650,000 homes and over 250,000 insured vehicles, including my grandmother’s. - 300,000 business properties were also affected, according to a report from global reinsurance firm, Aon Benfield. - During Sandy’s immediate aftermath, more than 8.5 million customers lost power, according to FEMA. - The hurricane was the first time in modern recorded history that a storm took a sharp turn to the west and hit New Jersey. - A scientific study said it was a once-in-700-years track.
Over the years, the silt has been collecting in Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, and it is predicted that over the next few hundred years this lake will fill up with silt. This could threaten the entire Colorado River reservoir system. Just in the past 10 years, Lake Mead’s water levels have dropped by more than 100 feet and the basin is only half full. Something needs to be done to stop the trends and even
How did WW1 Affect Canada Economically: In the early years of the war, Canada’s economic situation was bleak. In 1914, wheat yields plunged because of a severe drought. In 1914 and 1915, more than 50,000 people lost their jobs as the railway sector floundered under massive amounts of debt. Furthermore, construction and building activities shrank substantially from a lack of capital. With the outbreak of the war, however, demands for soldiers, nurses, farm labourers and factory workers increased simultaneously.
Criminally Negligent at the Dam On May 30, heavy rains started, the worst ever recorded in the area, six to ten inches in less than twenty-four hours. Rivers rose and downed telegraph lines, cutting off any fast connections of warning. On the last day in the May of 1889, the South Fork Dam burst, sending millions of gallons of water with the force of Niagara Falls and tons of debris, such as houses, barns, animals, and rocks and dirt, onto the city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The wave, forty feet high and a half a mile wide, destroyed Johnstown in about ten minutes. Many of the people were crushed by debris or caught in barbed wire from the nearby Cambia Iron Works.
This meant layoffs for thousands of people. Starting in late 2006 early 2007, the city was getting closer to hitting its rock bottom. Detroit became the number one city in the nation ranked for foreclosures. It was said that more than 5% of households were entering the state of foreclosure. Compared to the rest of the country, Detroit had 4.8 times the number of foreclosures (2007 in Detroit was brutal, more than 113,889 homes had filed or were about to file for foreclose.
In 1918 a great influenza, or flu outbreak, killed more than fifty million people. The influenza virus is also known as the “La Grippe” which translates to “Spanish Flu”. In a single year it killed more people than the Great War, also known as World War I. The flu today still remains a constant threat. Each “flu season”, many people die.
Water Wars Ben Bernanke World Geography Ms. Glenda Witch June 25, 2010 Approximately one-third of the world’s population is suffering from water scarcity. The Great Lakes of the United States and Canada make up the largest body of fresh water on the planet, as those without search for fresh water, the very existence of the Great Lakes is in constant threat of diversion. Entreperneurs, farmers, and recreational users all have their eye on the prize, but with eight U.S. States and two Canadian Provinces now working to protect this important resource things are moving in the right direction. The Great Lakes consist of five lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. These lakes lie on the U.S./Canadian
Hurricane Katrina, a category 4 hurricane, made landfall on August 29, 2005. It overwhelmed the levees in New Orleans causing widespread flooding and heaping damage on neighboring Mississippi. Approximately 1,700 were reported dead and hundreds of thousands became displaced. Katrina ranks as one of the most punishing hurricanes ever to hit the United States. Damage, costing billions of dollars, has made it one of the costliest storms on record.
The Three Gorges Dam Project- China Background Hydro-electric power is the conversion of the kinetic energy of falling water into electricity. Of the world's electricity, 15% is produced in this fashion (Baird, Stuart. http://www.iclei.org/efacts/hydroele.htm, 07/09/00). In 1996 the demand for electricity in developing Asia was rising at 8% a year and the region has enormous potential for hydro-electric power (The Economist (US), Oct 12, 1996 v341 n7987 p66 (1).). In order to produce hydropower, dams must be built.