Armed police officers and soldiers strengthen their training in seawater in Fangchenggang City, Guangxi Province, China on July 24, 2023. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Growing cities, overuse of fertilizers and factory wastewater have degraded China's water supplies to the extent that half the nation's rivers and lakes are severely polluted. China aims to spend $850 billion to improve filthy water supplies over the next decade, but even such huge outlays may do little to reverse damage caused by decades of pollution and overuse in Beijing's push for rapid economic growth. Photo: Fishermen row a boat in the algae-filled Chaohu Lake in Hefei, Anhui province, June 19, 2009. (Photo by Jianan Yu/Reuters)

Chinese women run with a ball on a snow covered field in Shenyang in China's northeastern Liaoning province during International Women's Day on March 8, 2018. International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8 every year and commemorates the movement for women's rights. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

A giant Iron Man statue stands next to a replica Sphinx in Chuzhou, Anhui Province, China on February 21, 2017. (Photo by Sipa Asia/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A dirty thunderstorm occurs over Mount Sakurajima as the volcano erupts violently at 12:03 am on July 26, 2016 in Tarumizu, Kagoshima, Japan. The eruption occurred at the mountain's Showa crater. This is the first time that the active volcano in southern Kyushu has spewed out a smokestack that high since an eruption on August 18, 2013, according to the Kagoshima Meteorological Office. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)

In this image distributed on Tuesday, September 29, 2015, 11-year old dance star Taylor Hatala and friends are seen filming their new Monster High Boo York, Boo York music video #CityGhouls in Los Angeles. (Photo by Casey Rodgers/Invision for Mattel/AP Images)

This handout photo taken on February 12, 2017 and released on February 16 by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) shows Mongolian herder Munkhbat Bazarragchaa (C) dragging two sheep – which recently died due to the weather - to a pile of dead animals behind his “ger” in Khuvsgul province, northern Mongolia. Thousands of Mongolian herders face disastrous livestock losses from dreaded severe weather known as the “dzud”, the Red Cross said on February 16, 2017 in launching an international emergency aid appeal. (Photo by Mirva Helenius/AFP Photo/IFRC)

Doris Pennman adjusts her umbrella as she walks along Mission Beach on January 8, 2005 in San Diego, Califonia. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)