Dams serve a variety of purposes, from energy generation to flood control. But new research in the journal Nature Communications concerning China's lower Yellow River suggests dams actually can raise flood risk by altering the makeup and structure of lowland riverbeds. “The bed is really flat; and then you move upward, closer to the dam site and, immediately adjacent to the dam, the channel bed become really, really rough,” said lead author Hongbo Ma, a postdoctoral researcher at University of California, Irvine. Read More