Thursday, August 26, 2021

Allicia Hull's Pros and Cons About Dams

 Dams are all used all over the world to help conserve and direct water. Dams are able to provide a resource too far away cities to provide help. Originally Dams were erected in order to help farmers tend to their crops. Dams also create reservoirs which can be used to separate water for consumption, bathing, and other uses. As Dams became more popular, engineers were able to draw power from the Dams to create power and move turbines.

The use of Dams can help create hydropower, distribute water to more cities, and conserve water to lower effects of droughts they are also costly and can hurt the environment. The effects that Dams have on the environment can harm more than do good. “Dams change the way river's function. They can trap sediment, burying rock riverbeds where fish spawn. Gravel, logs, and other important food and habitat features can also become trapped behind dams.” (N.d, 2005) Dams affect the natural currents in the water and the fish habitat. The cost of a Dam is antimoniacal as well, and the largest Dam in China cost thirty-one billion dollars to construct, this number does not include the upkeep and maintenance of the Dam. (Yue, 2016) By not using a Dam, there would need to be other ways to save water. By utilizing water conserving appliances and measuring how much water intake is happening we can easily decrease this.

There however are many benefits of having Dams around the world. Hydroelectric power is created from the water that is passed through a Dam. It can power cities and is considered clean renewable energy. (Miller, 2020) As of 2020 Hydroelectricity powers nineteen percent of the world's energy supply. Dams are also used to help farms that normally could not contain much moisture, helping the farm prosper. By utilizing a Dams reservoir during a drought, a farm can be watered helping those resources survive. Originally farming is the reason Dams were created, to help farmers and communities during a drought as well as provide water to people. Not only have Dams given water to people in need, but it has also created jobs for many countries.

Two Sides of an Issue Essay 3

While Dams cost a lot of money and homes are relocated in the place of a Dam, they do have a lot of benefits. Hydroelectricity helps the world on a larger scale than just water conservation. Since Dams can harm the earth, a good resource would be having more Embankment Dams across the world.” The embankment dam can be defined as a dam constructed from natural materials excavated or obtained nearby.” (Breeze, 2014) These can be made of Rock and help the irrigation and water conservation that can help others. Embankment Dams do have to be tended to and watched more closely as they can be flooded, but they are a natural resource that can be utilized at a lower cost.

Two Sides of an Issue Essay 4

References

Breeze, Paul 2014 Embankment, Dams https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/embankment-dams

Miller, Brandon 2020 17 Biggest Advantages and Disadvantages of Dams, https://greengarageblog.org/17-biggest-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-dams

N.d, 2019 Dams, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/dams/

N.d , 2019 How Dams damage Rivers, https://www.americanrivers.org/threats-solutions/restoring-damaged-rivers/how-dams-damage-rivers/

Ma, Yue 2016 Three Gorges Dam, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam

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