The Pros And Cons Of Dams

In the world, there are many things that humans do to harm the environment, but one we may not think of is dams. Dams cause a devastating amount of damage that people don’t recognize because they create “green energy”. Dams block the natural flow of rivers, in turn causing problems with vegetation dying, fish migration, and the buildup of toxins. These problems cause unnecessary harm the surrounding ecosystem and sometimes unrepairable damage to the earth, which appeal to the moral principles of not causing more harm than necessary and leaving the earth in an as good as or better condition. To repair the damage caused by dams, the US government should repair or remove dams that have under 75% efficiency because the modern dams on average can …show more content…
This is another anthropocentric idea because once again humans focus on what how they can benefit from the environment. The reasoning behind this moral principle is that the human species can gain a lot of benefits from the ecosystems such as medicine. Plus, there are a lot of creatures and plants that we have yet to be discovered, so we need to protect the ecosystem as much as we can to learn more about what different environments can provide (Biodiversity and Human …show more content…
Dams cause a loss of vegetation due to the blockage of the natural river flow trapping the nutrients behind the dam. They also aid in the toxification of the river and waterways because of the changes in the movement of the river. The reservoir is typically warmer in the winter than a natural river cause a disturbance in the chemicals and minerals in the water (Dams and Water Quality). Dams contribute to blockage of fish that need to migrate to their breeding grounds to lay eggs. Since most of the fish can’t make it there due to dams, very few young fish are born and it’s harder for the young fish to make it to the sea or ocean. The moral principles that would apply to help reverse these effects would be, we ought to leave the earth in as good as or better condition and we ought not to cause unnecessary harm to the environment and others. These are or should be commonly accepted ideas because many people want their kids or grandkids to be able to experience the things they experienced and the earth offers mankind many benefits like medicines and there is a lot of creatures and plants that we don’t know about. Dams break these moral principles because they cause damage to the ecosystem that is sometimes naturally unrepairable, so the future generations wouldn’t be able to experience the river as it once was. Along with that dams cause unnecessary harm to the surrounding environment, fish are blocked from