How did a Chinese power plant manage to slow the Earth’s rotation?

We recently received the following question from one of our subscribers:

I heard the “Three Gorges” power plant slowed the Earth’s rotation. Could you explain why this happened?

Let’s figure this out together. Due to various natural processes, the speed of the Earth’s rotation around its axis constantly fluctuates slightly, but on average, it remains unchanged. Various factors can influence it: earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and even people and their movements affect the Earth’s…