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RSS FeedMatters of Scale - Arteriosclerosis of the Earth
Number of large dams (at least 15 meters high) that were blocking the world's rivers as of 1950 | 5270 |
Number that had been built by 1985 | 36562 |
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Number of large dams in China as of 1950 | 2 |
Number that had been built by 1985 | 18820 |
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Average frequency of major floods of the Rhine River in Karlsruhe, Germany (7.6 meters or more above the flood level) between 1900 and 1977 | once every 19 years |
Average frequency during the last 19 years, after extensive river engineering which eliminated natural flood controls | once every 2 years |
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Number of salmon caught in the Rhine River (Germany and Holland) annually, 100 years ago | 150000 |
Number caught annually by the end of the 1950s | 0 |
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Millions of pounds of salmon and steelhead caught in the Columbia River by commercial fishermen in 1884 | 42.2 |
Millions of pounds caught in 1994 | 1.2 |
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Sources: Janet N. Abramovitz, Worldwatch Paper 128, Imperiled Waters, Impoverished Future: The Decline of Freshwater Ecosystems (Washington, D.C.: Worldwatch Institute, 1996).
