Recently constructed hydropower dams were associated with reduced economic production, population, and greenness in nearby areas

Hydropower dams produce huge impacts on renewable energy production, water resources, and economic development, particularly in the Global South, where accelerated dam construction has made it a global hotspot. We do not fully understand the multiple impacts that dams have in the nearby areas from a global perspective, including the spatial differentiations. In this study, we examined the impacts of hydropower dam construction in nearby areas. We first found that more than one-third of global gross domestic production (GDP) and almost one-third of global population fall within 50 km of the world’s 7,155 hydropower dams (