Audrey R. Topping

China is trying to build the largest, most expensive, and perhaps most hazardous hydroelectric dam ever. On a fabled stretch of the Yangtze River, the government is planning to erect a 1.2-mile-long dam that will create a 385-mile-long reservoir of over 10 trillion gallons of water. Even if the dam is constructed safely, the devastation will be staggering: 1.4 million people resettled, 113,00 acres of fertile river valley lost, several rare species eliminated, and some 200 ancient tombs submerged. If it were to fail, millions of city dwellers downstream would be engulfed in a tidal wave. Chinese leaders have touted the flood control and electricity production and have censored and jailed those who dared criticize.