Hey there! Do you know where electricity comes from? In Canada, a lot of it comes from water! 🌊 But lately, extreme weather is making it harder to produce electricity from water.
What is Hydropower?
Hydropower means using the energy of moving water, like rivers, to make electricity. It’s like when you see a waterwheel turning!
What’s the Problem?
But now, Canada is having some problems. Because of climate change, the weather is getting weird. Sometimes there’s not enough rain, which is called a drought. Other times, there’s too much water, causing floods.
What does this mean for hydropower? Well, if there’s not enough water, the dams can’t produce as much electricity. If there’s too much water too quickly, it can be dangerous for the dams.
Why Does It Matter?
Because of these problems, Canada has had to import electricity from the United States for the first time in eight years! Also, Canada can’t send as much electricity to the U.S. as before.
Places like Quebec have huge dams, like the Daniel-Johnson dam. But low water levels are breaking records there. This has caused profits to drop and made it harder to meet electricity demands.
Old Dams and New Weather
Many dams in Canada are over 50 years old. That means they were built a long time ago and weren’t designed for such extreme weather.
What Are We Doing About It?
Scientists and engineers are working to make the dams better and stronger. They are also trying to plan for the future with these new weather patterns.
What Can We Learn?
It’s important for us to think about how climate change is affecting the world around us, even our electricity! Maybe one day, some of you will help solve these problems! 🌟
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
