Brazil, Egypt and China are leaders in damming rivers to generate electricity, but global warming has put future water levels in doubt
From the Amazon to the Nile to the Mekong, rivers are a lifeblood for many nations, filling taps and irrigation canals and generating hydroelectricity that is powering economic development. But a new study warns that changes to river flows caused by climate change threaten that. Thousands of hydrodams risk being left high and dry by mid-century as global warming takes hold.
On the face of it hydroelectricity seems an obvious antidote to climate change. Hydrodams are among the world’s largest power sources and free of carbon emissions. They could replace the burning of fossil fuels in dozens of countries, allowing economic development without booming emissions of greenhouse gases. Brazil, Egypt, China have led the way.
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Where dams are built, the risks of financial disaster, human suffering and even water wars are significant
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