For centuries, the Yangtze River has been China’s vital lifeblood, yet its floods have claimed countless lives. To tame its waters, flood-control systems have evolved from ancient dykes to the engineering marvel of the Three Gorges Dam.
But a new study has uncovered a paradox: some human interventions may have inadvertently worsened the very flood risks they were built to mitigate.
“We show that flood frequency peaked during the Little Ice Age [1500−1850] … and that human interventions,…
