The Chinese Three Gorges Dam, holding 10 trillion gallons of water, has shifted the Earth's axis by nearly 2 cm, slightly shortening days, NASA reports.
The Three Gorges Dam in China, the largest hydropower project in the world, has shifted the Earth's rotation axis by two centimeters (about 0.75 inches) since its construction nearly 18 years ago, slightly shortening the length of a day, NASA specialists report.
Express reports that construction of the dam began in 1994 and was completed in 2006. The resulting reservoir, holding about 10 trillion gallons of water, generates approximately 0.54 TWh of electricity daily, enough to power 5.4 million homes for a month.
The massive volume of water held by the dam adds weight to the Earth's crust, redistributes mass within the planet, and affects the moment of inertia. NASA scientists confirmed that this has caused a shift in the Earth's rotation axis, slowing its spin and making days slightly shorter.
In comparison, natural disasters such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami also shifted the Earth's axis and shortened days by a few microseconds. This effect demonstrates how human activity can influence the planet's rotation, comparable to natural disasters.
The Three Gorges Dam is an engineering marvel of modern times, generating electricity, reducing China's dependence on fossil fuels, and playing a key role in flood control.
However, the construction led to the relocation of 1.2 million people and flooded an area of about 370 miles, destroying ecosystems that had developed over centuries and radically altering the landscape.
Studies, including a 2010 publication in Geophysical Research Letters, show that megaprojects of this scale can significantly impact the Earth's balance. Experts urge careful consideration of the environmental and geophysical consequences before implementing such projects.
