23/09/2025
China’s Three Gorges Dam isn’t just the world’s largest hydroelectric project — it’s so powerful it has a measurable effect on Earth itself.
🔹 The reservoir holds back 39–40 billion cubic meters of water — that’s about 10 trillion gallons.
🔹 This huge shift in mass slightly changes Earth’s moment of inertia (the same principle that makes figure skaters spin faster when they pull their arms in).
🔹 According to NASA scientists, it lengthens Earth’s day by about 0.06 microseconds (60 billionths of a second).
That’s too small to notice, but it shows how human projects can have planet-scale impacts. 🌐⚡
Meanwhile, the dam also generates over 22,500 MW of electricity, reducing coal dependence — but it has sparked debates over displaced communities, submerged cultural sites, and environmental changes.
🚨 Science reminder: What we build on Earth can ripple through the whole planet.
