I told you so :-( Damn Dam

[Suckermouth, posts: 1514]

Just about every large river in the world is a potential target. Part of the problem is that it's considered "green", which, particularly in tropical regions with greatly varying levels of water flow, it certainly isn't, because of the methane that is released when the dam fills up and vegetation on the side of the river is broken down, releasing methane and CO2. Methane is a much worse "greenhouse gas" than CO2, and there will be literally many tons every time the water level goes up in the dam. Because it is the tropics, plants grow very quickly on the side of the dam when the water level goes down...

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Mats

Let's not forget the carbon sequestration ability of trees and thus the ability of the Amazon rainforest to offset CO2 emissions by absorbing it.

[TwoTankAmin, posts: 191]

I actually posted that link because I felt it supported my contentions in the paste year or two that the eradication of species would happen long before the dam was completed. I suggested the initial phases of dam construction would throw so much crap into the river that the fish would be at risk long before they got close to making electricity.

[Mike_Noren, posts: 1395]

Has anyone made a list of the species that will be lost??

No, there has been no study on the effects on the fish.

The environmental impact study didn't with a single word discuss the effects on anything living under the water surface, and an Independent Expert Panel (pdf) report didn't go in to specifics (and didn't distinguish between local extinction and global extinction).

You can sort of make a list by checking for which species are only found between Altamira and Belo Monte, but a lot of the species are still undescribed and their distributions are poorly known. Besides H. zebra the only traded catfish from the area that I know of is Scobinancistrus aureatus, but I'm sure there's a bunch of L-numbers too.

I hope Brazil gets heavily crtiticized over this at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development later this year, but considering how environmental organizations have stared themselves blind on climate change I suspect they'll give Brazil a pass.

[Andersp90, posts: 36]

So is the L14 going to disaper?

In that case I better be buying a group soon..

[Mike_Noren, posts: 1395]

So is the L14 going to disaper?

Statistically it's got a 20-40% chance of still existing 10 years after the construction of the dam.

Most species probably wont go extinct right away. Species die hard, they usually cling on to existence long after one'd think they could not possibly survive - this is known as "extinction debt", or "walking dead species". Most of the species in the affected area will likely join the extinction debt, and fade out slowly, over decades.

[Andersp90, posts: 36]

So is the L14 going to disaper?

Statistically it's got a 20-40% chance of still existing 10 years after the construction of the dam.

Most species probably wont go extinct right away. Species die hard, they usually cling on to existence long after one'd think they could not possibly survive - this is known as "extinction debt", or "walking dead species". Most of the species in the affected area will likely join the extinction debt, and fade out slowly, over decades.

Is it not possible that the L14 and L48 distribution is large enough for some of the population to be outside the range of the slow water?

[Mike_Noren, posts: 1395]

Is it not possible that the L14 and L48 distribution is large enough for some of the population to be outside the range of the slow water?

Yes it is possible. That's the kind of thing one'd wish the environmental impact study had investigated.

[Andersp90, posts: 36]

Lets hope so.

[MatsP]

Thx for the link, but I am not sure what to do once I have pressed the link?

My German is pretty poor.

You could go with the English version here:
http://www.amazonas-magazin.de/index.php?id=1874

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Mats