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Many of the disadvantages of the Three Gorges Dam are environmental and social. The TGD hurts habitats and vegetation through changing river conditions. This in turn hurts biodiversity and productivity of many habitats, especially those downstream. Also, many endangered species are put into greater risk of extinction. Many of these environmental impacts also have economic impacts by reducing productivity of fisheries. Also, the TGD not only is extremely expensive to build and maintain, it forces millions of residents to relocate while also increasing disease and toxic substances.

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Many of the advantages of the Three Gorges Dam are economic. It provides a renewable energy source which helps encourage development. It also attracts tourists, which creates another source of revenue. Especially in a country like China which is still developing, a dam like TGD can bring prosperity to many citizens.

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In conclusion, although the Three Gorges Dam may have important economic benefits, its disadvantages far outweigh its benefits. Its extensive environmental damage to habitat and vegetation hurts native species which in turn reduces biodiversity. Also, the social impacts are great because millions of residents are forced to relocate and pay for the ridiculously expensive dam. Also another important social impact is that the dam increases disease and toxic substances. Besides, this other costs include increased salinization, increased water loss, and reduced productivity of fisheries.

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Peer Reviewed Sources
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1070496511426478

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2007GL029472/full

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2008GL033456/full

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2005WR003970/full

Other Websites
https://sites.duke.edu/biology217_01_s2011_rz8/52-2/

http://peakwater.org/tag/three-gorges-dam/

http://www1.american.edu/ted/ICE/china-dam-impact.html

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/hubei/yichang/three-gorges-dam-project.htm

http://greengarageblog.org/list-of-top-16-three-gorges-dam-pros-and-cons

# data[].attributes.body
- Environmental impact will be marked with *
- Economic impact will be marked with **
- Equity impact will be marked with ***

# data[].attributes.body
- 1,000,000+ residents forced to relocate **
- Cost $10.4 billion **
- Decline of native species *
- Degradation of habitat *
- Decline of vegetation *
- Sedimentation *
- Related flooding *
- Increase disease and toxic substances ***
- Reduce productivity and biodiversity *
- Induce salinization *
- Increased water loss due to greater evaporation rate *
- Many fish/wildlife/plant species not adapted to new conditions of the reservoir and damned water *
- Affect biodiversity and productivity of wetlands/lakes downstream of dam *
- Affect food source of many species *
- Affect fisheries by reducing productivity of algae and plankton **
- Species like the baiji and Siberian cranes are endangered because of different river conditions and dying vegetation *

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- Renewable energy source **
- Speeds development of developing countries **
- Very large amounts of energy generated **
- Improves navigability of the river to aid shipping ***
- Floods less likely to occur *
- Irrigation ***
- Attracts tourists, brings money to the region **

# data[].attributes.body
The Three Gorges Dam is a huge hydroelectric dam located on the Yangtze River. It is 175 m high and flooded 632 km for the reservoir. It produces 84 terawatt-hours of electricity annually.