NASA warns: China’s Three Gorges Dam could slow Earth’s rotation by 0.06 seconds; here’s how | – Times of India
NASA has another fantastic observation reported that seems to link human ingenuity with the apparent rotation of the planet. According to their studies, construction and operation of China’s Three Gorges Dam resulted in a slight, measurable change in Earth’s rotation: it slowed it by 0.06 microseconds. The apparent minuteness of this phenomenon is a result of how the water reservoir of the enormous dam redistributes the mass of Earth, subtly acting upon the Earth’s rotational motion.
How the Three Gorges Dam’s redistribution of water retards Earth’s rotation?
Redistribution of mass within the Earth’s system would produce an effect on Earth’s rotation. After all, as water accumulates within the confines of the Three Gorges Dam, it will redistribute its mass and thus be changing the mass distribution over Earth’s surface from a uniform pattern. The latter is anticipated to change the moment of inertia for Earth by a small amount due to rotational dynamics, a term which describes the distribution of mass with respect to the axis of rotation. According to NASA’s Benjamin Fong Chao, this redistribution of mass, though it results in only a very small effect (a delay of 0.06 microseconds in a day), is enough to alter the rotational speed of the Earth.
The Earth’s moment of inertia accounts for its ability to spin. That is, the more mass is shifted toward the poles, the more rapidly the Earth can rotate. The more spread out toward the equator, the slower it rotates. With this much water moved out of the way of the Yangtze River dam, the balance has changed, which in turn slows the Earth’s rotation.
Three Gorges Dam in China changes Earth’s physical properties
The Three Gorges Dam, by human creation, is a magnificent construction. It stands at 185 meters (607 feet) above the Yangtze River and spans more than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). Such a massive size is able to accommodate an enormous volume of water-entirely 40 billion cubic meters. That extent of water is, in many respects, related to its environmental impact. Indeed, it may alter Earth’s physical attributes and the most conspicuous one, the rotation.
Being the biggest hydroelectric dam in the world, the Three Gorges Dam produces 22,500 MW of electricity and can even go beyond the level that many countries can do. The electric power generated in this dam manifests the success and its contribution through hydropower technology to Chinese production energy. In the year 2020, a new record came out when 112 TWh of electricity came out from it, which means that it takes the lead being the biggest contributory source in renewable energy generation.
Three Gorges Dam and its impact in changing Earth’s natural systems
Undeniably, the Three Gorges Dam marks one of the unintended results of human interaction with the dynamics on Earth. This is not a simple matter of having many mega reservoirs, or groundwater exfiltration brought about by the said activity; it simply forms part of an indicator of an overall trend in earth system history whereby anthropogenic forces have a propensity to alter physical terrestrial features for good. For example, extracting groundwater and large-scale infrastructure construction like dams causes slight tilting of the Earth’s axis or results in sea-level changes, thereby adding credence to how human activity interacts with the natural Earth systems.
The most recent example is the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, which moved the North Pole 2.5 centimeters. Although it was a natural phenomenon, it exemplifies how both natural and human-induced forces alter Earth’s physical characteristics, such as its axis.
Three Gorges Dam affects Earth’s rotation: Implications and perspective shift
A huge revelation in both scientific and human terms is that the Three Gorges Dam can affect Earth’s rotation. In fact, the impact of the Three Gorges Dam on Earth’s rotation makes it a momentous event that reflects the rising ability of humans to influence the dynamics of a planet. The concept of changing the physical properties of Earth once seemed like a science fiction story involving human beings. Dams, among other human activities, are altering the earth in ways that would have been considered impossible previously.
This implies that what human innovation finally leaves behind goes much beyond what one sees right on the surface. The effect of the Three Gorges Dam on Earth’s rotation is as inevitable as it is subtle; it highlights the interdependence of human engineering and the natural world. It means taking care of our environment responsibly because long-term effects of big projects might also resonate through consequences affecting the basic function of the planet.
This, in turn, means that, even small, the impact of the Three Gorges Dam on Earth’s rotation is tantamount to the immense and often invisible power that human ingenuity has over planetary systems. The effect of the dam on the moment of inertia of the Earth is one of the manifestations of how human activity has become one of the planet’s major forces of physical dynamics, and it is thus a reality closer than ever that humans can influence the natural processes of the Earth.
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