If we reaIIy want to do something significant. We need to think IocaIIy and act gIobaIy. Any of us Iiving in N. America have a neighbor just to the North that has for decades been giving us misinformation about the kind of energy that they are producing and producing on a Iarge scaIe. Now the onIy reason I mention this is that they have convinced peopIe through spreading misinformation, simiIar to fossil fuel industry. However their energy comes from changing a system of fresh water for our pIanet that has been a constant for thousands of years
THE LARGEST AMOUNT OF FRESH WATER ON EARTH IS LOCATED IN THE SUBARCTIC FROM
LABRADOR to SIBERIA
IMPLICATIONS OF DAMMING UP TO 90% OF LARGE RIVERS BEHIND 400'-700' TALL DAMS.
Historically, many rivers and tributaries provided water to the Arctic region, flowing unrestricted into the bays and into the Arctic Ocean (a highly sensitive and significant, but the smallest, ocean on the planet).
24 hours a day, 7days a week, the moving water helped keep the planet and this region cooler, moving waters in general are cooler than stagnant water. After-all isn’t this the definition of a river or stream?
From the 1950s to the mid 1980s a significant number of major rivers and tributaries in the subarctic were dammed by Canadian and Russian corporate interests causing the natural hydrological cycles of this region to be permanently altered with serious consequences.
Many of these dams were huge: 400-700 feet tall and some would take a decade or more, trapping up to 90% of the rivers normal flow, to fill them. And multiple dams were added too many now destroyed rivers.
The hydroelectric model used is called "Strict Flow Regulation" or "seasonal water discharges". What this means: The majority of water for each former river is stored in sea-size reservoirs that impound the water for up to 6 months at a time.
This model is the most damaging to all flora and fauna and totally debilitating the ecological integrity of riverine systems
Indigenous local populations have been impacted severely with loss of a way of life and their economic security.
These reservoirs have indiscriminately covered over boreal forest, tundra, and permafrost lands. Decomposition of carbon and melting of permafrost is still ongoing and releasing significant GHG emissions.
Only in winter time for 4-6 months is electricity generated. Waters are drawn into the turbines' penstock which is located well below the top of the dams and where water temperature is around 40° F.
The velocity at which the water is discharged through the turbines is at least 5 times greater than normal river flow and quantities of water released downstream is 5 to 15 times greater than the normal flow for a year.
Many of the reservoirs (former rivers) are now adding huge volumes of fresh water into the small Arctic Ocean, causing desalination, altering the ocean currents along both coasts of the US, and helping to slow the AMOC current.
The velocity of water discharges is great and with warmed water hitting the Arctic cold air, huge amounts of water vapor is released into the atmosphere and surrounding downstream regions and has been every winter for last 60 years. This has led to an Arctic that historically was dry and cold but now is wetter and warmer and forced Climate destabilization
This strong velocity of discharge and heated water stored behind dams is causing downstream waters to no longer freeze in the winter. It’s now sending this warmer water into the small Arctic Ocean, melting the ice, altering natural current patterns, and leading to warming of this small ocean.
Thanks for sharing the info on Ecosia ... I just switched over!
Thanks for the info. I didn’t know about ecosia. 😊
Love Ecosia! 😌💖
If we reaIIy want to do something significant. We need to think IocaIIy and act gIobaIy. Any of us Iiving in N. America have a neighbor just to the North that has for decades been giving us misinformation about the kind of energy that they are producing and producing on a Iarge scaIe. Now the onIy reason I mention this is that they have convinced peopIe through spreading misinformation, simiIar to fossil fuel industry. However their energy comes from changing a system of fresh water for our pIanet that has been a constant for thousands of years
THE LARGEST AMOUNT OF FRESH WATER ON EARTH IS LOCATED IN THE SUBARCTIC FROM
LABRADOR to SIBERIA
IMPLICATIONS OF DAMMING UP TO 90% OF LARGE RIVERS BEHIND 400'-700' TALL DAMS.
Historically, many rivers and tributaries provided water to the Arctic region, flowing unrestricted into the bays and into the Arctic Ocean (a highly sensitive and significant, but the smallest, ocean on the planet).
24 hours a day, 7days a week, the moving water helped keep the planet and this region cooler, moving waters in general are cooler than stagnant water. After-all isn’t this the definition of a river or stream?
From the 1950s to the mid 1980s a significant number of major rivers and tributaries in the subarctic were dammed by Canadian and Russian corporate interests causing the natural hydrological cycles of this region to be permanently altered with serious consequences.
Many of these dams were huge: 400-700 feet tall and some would take a decade or more, trapping up to 90% of the rivers normal flow, to fill them. And multiple dams were added too many now destroyed rivers.
The hydroelectric model used is called "Strict Flow Regulation" or "seasonal water discharges". What this means: The majority of water for each former river is stored in sea-size reservoirs that impound the water for up to 6 months at a time.
This model is the most damaging to all flora and fauna and totally debilitating the ecological integrity of riverine systems
Indigenous local populations have been impacted severely with loss of a way of life and their economic security.
These reservoirs have indiscriminately covered over boreal forest, tundra, and permafrost lands. Decomposition of carbon and melting of permafrost is still ongoing and releasing significant GHG emissions.
Only in winter time for 4-6 months is electricity generated. Waters are drawn into the turbines' penstock which is located well below the top of the dams and where water temperature is around 40° F.
The velocity at which the water is discharged through the turbines is at least 5 times greater than normal river flow and quantities of water released downstream is 5 to 15 times greater than the normal flow for a year.
Many of the reservoirs (former rivers) are now adding huge volumes of fresh water into the small Arctic Ocean, causing desalination, altering the ocean currents along both coasts of the US, and helping to slow the AMOC current.
The velocity of water discharges is great and with warmed water hitting the Arctic cold air, huge amounts of water vapor is released into the atmosphere and surrounding downstream regions and has been every winter for last 60 years. This has led to an Arctic that historically was dry and cold but now is wetter and warmer and forced Climate destabilization
This strong velocity of discharge and heated water stored behind dams is causing downstream waters to no longer freeze in the winter. It’s now sending this warmer water into the small Arctic Ocean, melting the ice, altering natural current patterns, and leading to warming of this small ocean.