SICHUAN means “four rivers”,but the devastating earthquake in China’s Sichuan province, together with the powerful aftershocks down the , has dammed nine rivers and created 24 new lakes, which among other things pose renewed threats of landslides and floods.
When nature diverts waterways or creates lakes, no one can complain: its powers are often intractable, and when people make their homes on shorelines, mountains, known geological faults, or near volcanoes, they know they are taking a risk.
But when human activity is the cause of serious natural changes, as with plant and animal extinctions and the drying…
