Water
by Katie Edwards
Flooding - The Problem
If flooding is not solved, people can become homeless, injured or killed, water supply and electricity will be interrupted, public transport like airplanes, buses, boats and trains will be delayed, and communication lines could be knocked down.
Flooding in China
Typhoon Haiyan Flooding
Bangladesh Flooding
Dams - One Solution
A reservoir or a lake is formed behind the dam. Flood water is caught by the dam which prevents flooding downstream. The water is released steadily throughout the year.
Advantages of Building a Dam
Disadvantages of Building a Dam
Affecting Society - Environmental Factor
One of the first problems with dams is the erosion of land. Dams hold back the sediment load normally found in a river flow, depriving the downstream of this. In order to make up for the sediments the downstream water erodes its channels and banks. This lowering of the riverbed threatens the vegetation and river wildlife.
As fisheries become an increasingly important source and food supply, more attention is being paid to the harmful effects pf dams on many fish and marine mammal populations. The large majority of large dams do not include proper bypass systems of these animals, interfering with their lifecycle's and sometimes even forcing species to extinction.
Dam reservoirs in tropical areas, due to their slow-movement, are literally breeding grounds for mosquitoes, snails and flies, the vectors that carry dengue fever and malaria.
Bibliography
Advantages to dams. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.simscience.org/cracks/advanced/dams2a.html
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What are the sources of flood? -- china.org.cn. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.china.org.cn/environment/tips/2008-09/12/content_16442855.htm
What is a Dam? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/sijpkes/arch374/winter2001/dbiggs/what.html
What is a flood? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://eschooltoday.com/natural-disasters/floods/what-is-a-flood.html
What is a floodplain forest? (2001). Concord, NH: Office of State Planning.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/water_rivers/river_flooding_management_rev5.shtml