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)

In this photo taken on Sunday, February 15, 2015 a girl runs away from a “Mamuxarro” during the carnival, in the small town of Unanu, northern Spain. In the northern Spanish ancient village of Unamu, people dress up as “Mamuxarro”, folkloric figures in white with a red sash and a metal mask to cover their faces as they pursue townsfolk with sticks. According to custom, their “victims” (usually young women) must kneel and kiss the mamuxarro’s knee after he makes the sign of the cross on their forehead. (Photo by Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo)

These men are chased by the defiant elephants on May 4, 2013. Taken by Biplab Hazra in Bishnupur, India, the images show the extreme lengths the inhabitants of the town go to to deter elephants from damaging their crops and property. Elephants encroaching out of their habitats is an increasingly common occurrence with deforestation in much of India. (Photo by Biplab Hazra/Caters News Agency)

English singer Liam Payne and American actress Kate Cassidy pose in the evian VIP Suite at Wimbledon 2023 on July 12, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for evian)

“Titanoboa is a genus of snake that lived approximately 58–60 million years ago, during the Paleocene epoch, a 10-million-year period immediately following the dinosaur extinction event. The only known species is the Titanoboa cerrejonensis, the largest snake ever discovered, which supplanted the previous record holder, Gigantophis”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Leah Del Rio views a replica of the prehistoric Titanoboa, the largest snake to ever live, on display at Grand Central Terminal on March 23, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

This photo provided by Netflix/naturepl.com and WWF-International shows an African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) in front of double rainbow, in Masai Mara, Kenya, included in the Netflix natural history series, “Our Planet”, in collaboration with Silverback Films and WWF. The eight-part series debuts in 2019. (Photo by Andy Rouse/Naturepl/WWF-International/Netflix via AP Photo)

Rescuers carry an injured passenger on stretcher at Soshigaya Okura Station after stabbing on a commuter train, in Tokyo Friday night, August 6, 2021. A man with a knife attacked 10 passengers on a commuter train in Tokyo on Friday and was arrested by police after fleeing, fire department officials and news reports said. (Photo by Kyodo News via AP Photo)

In this October 27, 1983 file photo, soldiers brandish captured AK-47 rifles from the windows of a civilian vehicle as they drive near Point Salines Airport in St. George, Grenada. In 1983, U.S. forces invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada after accusing the government of allying itself with Communist Cuba. (Photo by Doug Jennings/AP Photo)