Among the fish populations that could be harmed by the Xayaburi dam in Laos is the critically endangered Mekong giant catfish, considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the world’s largest freshwater fish. The fish, which grows to 650 pounds and about 10 feet long, is only found in the Mekong River. It is migratory, moving between downstream habitats in Cambodia upstream to northern Thailand and Laos each year to spawn. Some experts fear the Xayaburi dam could block the migration and drive the giant catfish to extinction. (Photo by Courtesy of Zeb Hogan/University of Nevada, Reno)

A biker passes by a pair of mailboxes in the Capitol Hill neighborhood November 6, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. Colorado is considered by most experts to be one of the key battleground state in this year's presidential election. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/AFP Photo)

Pan Am aircraft – here in 1963 with the abbreviation PAA for Pan Am Airways – could be seen everywhere, including from the freeway in New York before the Strato Clipper took off for Europe in 1963. (Photo by Imago)

A man takes a photo of a mural entitled “Thank goodness Silvia is here” (Meno male che Silvia c'è), representing former Italian prime minister and presidential candidate Silvio Berlusconi dressed as a woman, by Italian street artist Salvatore Benintende aka TvBoy, on January 21, 2022 in Milan. (Photo by Piero Cruciatti/AFP Photo)

British actress Iris Law arrives for the screening of the film “Forever Young (Les Amandiers)” at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 22, 2022. (Photo by Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters)

Elementary school sumo wrestlers compete in the sumo ring during the Wanpaku sumo-wrestling tournament in Tokyo, Japan on October 29, 2022. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Re-enactors use flaming torches to write 2023 during the Flamborough Fire Festival, a Viking themed parade in aid of charities and local community groups held on New Year’s Eve on December 31, 2022. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Wire via Getty Images)

Cork twins Sibéal and Éimhin Walsh celebrate with their friends, Samuel Palliser Kehoe and Charlotte Herlihy, during the Feis Ceoil Festival in Ireland on March 20, 2023. (Photo by Clare Keogh/The Irish Times)