Analysis: Dams Cause Climate Change

3 min readNov 26, 2016

Kendall Moyer

http://www.ecowatch.com/dams-cause-climate-change-they-are-not-clean-energy-1881943019.html

A common misconception about dams that this article discusses is that even though dams are technically “clean energy,” they are hate by most environmentalists, with good reason. The public and the media often make the false claim that dams are an energy source that is good for the environment. Unfortunately, a study put out by the United States Department of Energy in April of 2014 furthered these misconceptions. The article discusses the large amount of evidence that is currently being gathered about dams and their correlation to climate change.

Studies show that some hydro-electric dams can actually emit more greenhouse gases than coal-fired power plants. This is due to the decomposition of organic material, such as vegetation, sediment and soil, which flows from rivers into reservoirs, where it begins to decompose. This decomposition releases methane and carbon dioxide into the water and the air. Places in the tropics that have the most organic material tend to emit the most greenhouse gases. In the United States, there have been reports of “Methane Springs” at the sight of the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River, with “methane bubbles” reported floating on the lake. One report estimated that dams are the single largest source of human caused methane, being responsible for about 23 percent of the total.

Another environmental issue that goes along with dams is the enormous amount of cement utilized in their construction. The construction process uses massive amounts of energy that emits greenhouse gases. Dams that divert water out of rivers may also create carbon sinks, due to the areas of wetland that become drained and dried up. These carbon sinks hold vast amounts of greenhouse gases in the soil, which get released as they are dried up. Another issue is that some dams require large scale deforestation, which would release enormous amounts of greenhouse gases. Dams may seem like “clean energy,” but once you realize all the greenhouse gases that the implementation and utilization that these projects create and/ or release, it becomes clear that they are no better than a traditional energy source. In fact, they may be worse. Wind and solar power are both cheaper, faster, and cleaner alternatives to hydro-electric power. The author states that saying hydro-electric is better than coal power is unsupported by the science and economics of the 21st century. Clearly even if dams can be considered a “lesser evil” than energy from coal, they are still “evil” enough to not be a practical move towards green energy, especially when other alternatives are possible.

Not all dams are as damaging to the environment as others. The author states that while most hydro-electric dams and reservoirs are not as bad at climate change emitters as coal plants, most are in fact much worse environmentally speaking than wind or solar power.

More studies need to be done to put an end to the terrible myths about the benefits of dams that have been spread as propaganda and false information. As the author states in his summary of the information in the article — “Dams are not clean energy and everyone involved with dams and energy-hydro-plant operators, media, government officials and environmentalists-must stop saying it. Dams cause climate change. Period.” It is time that the general population learns the truth about dams so that they can begin to fight for the ending of their use, and prevent the construction of new dams in the future. As we move towards more environmentally friendly alternative energy sources, we need to remove dams from the list of good options.

The author of this article presents a rather one-sided view of the argument about dams. It would have been useful for him to provide counter-arguments, and to discuss those. However, he does provide various studies and many links to reliable websites that help counteract the idea that he is just stating his opinion rather than hard evidence and factual information. He also provided useful statistics. While I do believe that the author may have been taking an extreme view of dams without discussing any of the benefits, his evidence was eye-opening and opinion changing for me.

Analysis: Dams Cause Climate Change

Written by Dams and Globalization