1. The Yantze River and Its Dynamics

2. Dujianyan Hydrodam Project, constructed in 256 B.C.

3. Our Delegation (9/24/00 – 10/8/00)

4. Land area: 9,326,411 km 2 Total area: 9,596,960 km 2 Population (2008 est.): 1.330 billion growth rate: 0.6% birth rate: 13.7/1000 density per mi 2 : 142

5. Geography Chang JiangZhu Jiang The greater part of the country is mountainous. Its principal ranges are the Tian Shan, the Kunlun chain, and the Trans-Himalaya. The Gobi Desert lies to the north. China proper consists of three great river systems: the Yellow River (Huang He, 5464 km); the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang, 6300 km), and the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang, 2,197 km).History The earliest recorded human settlements were discovered in the Huang He basin and date from about 5000 B.C. During the Shang dynasty (1500–1000 B.C.), the precursor of modern China's ideographic writing system developed. It was following this initial flourishing of civilization, in a period known as the Chou dynasty (1122–249 B.C.), that Lao Zi, Confucius, Mo Zi, and Mencius laid the foundation of Chinese philosophical thought.

6. The Topo Relief Map of China Chengdu

8. Population Distribution

9. Desert Distribution

10. Source: IIASA, Laxenburg (ISBN 3-3045-0144

15. Science & Technology Source: Data-sharing Network of Earth System Science Natural resource index Human Development Index Economic Index

16. Three Gorges Dam Model

17. Beijing Shanghai Wuhan Taibei Shenyang Xi'an 360 km Chongqing TGD Harbin Lhasa Urumqi Yangtze River Yellow River About the Yangtze River The 3 rd longest river (< Nile & Amazon) Long history of land use and culture 145,000 killed and 1.8 million houses destroyed in 1931 30,000 killed in 1954 flooding 1,562 killed in 1998 (200 billion RMB loss= $24 billion) “The Best National Park in US” (Dr. Merhloff) A hanging river (>18 m above the ground)

18. Three Gorges Dam Model

20. About the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) The largest (185 m tall wall, 175 m deep, & 1983 m wide) To be completed between 1992 and 2009 Raise water for 600 km upstream 28,000 km 2 land to be flooded, including 13 cities, 140 towns, >1300 villages, and 115,000 acres of arable land 1.1-1.4 million (official) or 2 million (unofficial) people to be resettled, with about $4,000 per person 530 million M tons of sediment per year

22. The Purposes of TGD Flood control (3/4 of Chinese population farmed by the dry area) Hydroelectric power (demand for electricity double every 9-12 years. Coal burning vs air pollution Navigation along the river. The river carries 78% of the country’s riverborne freight.

25. Three Gorges Dam Model

27. City of New Zibei – Developed for Dam Operation

29. The Three Gorges University

30. Construction of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD)

40. A marvel of engineering, the Three Gorges Dam will start operating at full capacity later this year. Already under way is an epic experiment on how a dam impacts the environment. -- Stone 2008

41. City of New Zibei – Build for Dam Operation

42. The SCB Delegation

43. The Historical and Cultural Center

45. One of the Three Gorges

46. The Three Gorges

61. The Modern China

64. Effects on Biological Diversity: Aquatic Ecosystem At least 320 phytoplankton 210 aquatic vascular plants 200 benthos 370 fish 2 aquatic mammals Endangered Species Baiji – river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) Endemic to China 400 in 80s 100 in 90s Disappeared from the lakes or branches of the Yangtze

65. Internationally critical (IUCN 2000) Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis)

66. Effects on Biological Diversity: Terrestrial Ecosystem Home for metasequoia and Ginkgo (living fossils) 190 families, 1012 genera, 3014 plant species 47 nationally & 37 are endemic to the basin Within the 53,2000 km 2 basin (0.55% of China’s territory), it contains 10.28% of vascular plants.

67. To meet the increasing demands for lands and agriculture, policymakers have attempted to enlarge the islands by diking coastal areas and introducing Spartina alterniflora – a grass native to tidal salt marshes of the southeastern United States but exotic to China. Spartina is one of the 16 greatest invasive species listed by the State Environmental Protection Administration of China. Successful plantations and rapid spread of this species have increased production and fertility of the coast, but at the cost of native ecosystems.-- Chen et al. 2008

68. Shanghai Jiangsu Chongming Pacific Ocean Yangtze Jiuduansha The growing islands (e.g., Chongming, Jiuduansha) are maintained by the massive sediments (Landtsat Image in 2003) transported from the Yangtze River

69. 0751 1617 1863 1989 1111 1736 1948 2003 Shanghai Jiangsu Chongming Yangtze River Pacific Ocean Formation and change of islands from 751 A.D. through 2003 A.D. An accelerated rate started after the formation of the P.R. China in 1949.

70. (a) Spartina plantation (b) Mosaics of Spartina invasion (c) Spartina domination(d) Natural gradients Introduction of Spartina into the estuary islands in the Yangtze River began with plantations on the mudflats