China's largest hydroelectric dam has slowed down the Earth

The displacement of 42 billion tons of water to 175 meters above sea level in the Tam Hiep hydropower dam is enough to slow the rotation of the planet, though the impact will be extremely small.

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When China announced the construction of the Three Gorges planet's largest hydroelectric dam project in Changjiang River in Hubei Province, many scientists have issued warnings about unpredictable consequences, including earthquakes and landslides. , polluting, disturbing people's lives when more than 1.3 million people were forced to relocate, destroying habitats of endangered animals and historical monuments.

China's largest hydroelectric dam has slowed down the Earth Picture 1

Recently, scientists also discovered the mass of giant water stored at the Three Gorges Dam enough to change the rotation of the Earth.

At the end of July 2012, the last 32 transmitters of the Three Gorges Dam came into operation. After completion, Tam Hiep is the world's largest hydroelectric dam in terms of total capacity. The total area of ​​land is flooded when the water level is at the highest level of 632 km2. The capacity of the lake is about 39.3 km3 and the volume of water will be up to 42 billion tons, capable of producing about 22.5 million kilowatts of electricity (or 22,500 megawatts), corresponding to 15 nuclear reactors.

China's largest hydroelectric dam has slowed down the Earth Picture 2 Three Gorges Dam seen from above.(Photo: Youtube.com.)

Pushing 42 billion tons of water up to 175 meters above sea level will increase the moment of inertia (the inertia of a rotating solid object, according to scientists from the US Space Agency). will correspond to its rotational motion), slowing the rotation of the globe, making it 0.06 milliseconds longer. It also makes the Earth 'deformed' slightly rounded in the middle and flatter at the top, causing the pole to deviate by about two centimeters.

China's largest hydroelectric dam has slowed down the Earth Picture 3
The Three Gorges Dam is capable of releasing 43,000 m3 of water per second.(Photo: Getty.)

Earth's rotation changes frequently due to the influence of the Moon and earthquake. So the researchers think that the impact of the Three Gorges Dam on Earth's slow motion is not worrying. In 2011, the earthquake in Japan also made the day on Earth longer 2.68 seconds.

See also: Warning: there will be 20 extremely serious earthquakes in 2018 because the Earth is slowly turning