Building Of Dams In The Amazon Will Cause “Countless” Extinctions

Environment





Photo credit:

There are already 191 dams in the Amazon basin, with another 243 planned. Bill Ohl/Flickr CC BY-ND 2.0

Considering the Amazon accounts for around a fifth of all water discharged by rivers globally, it is unsurprising that the river system is considered to have great potential for hydroelectric power. This has given rise to 191 dams that have already been built by nine countries through which the Amazon River flows, and with 243 more in the pipeline it seems the dam building boom is showing no signs of slowing anytime soon.