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)

The sea otter mother with her three day old newborn pup ontop of her to keep it dry and warm while it sleeps. This devoted mother otter kept her newborn pup dry as she let the baby ride on her belly. Nature photographer Suzi Eszterhas, 40, spotted the adorable pair of southern sea otters swimming in Monterey Bay, California. The mother lifted the pup out of the water and on to her belly to keep it warm and dry and also blew air into the pup's fur to groom it. Ms Eszterhas was shocked to see the otters come closer to where she was standing and the mother left her child to float alone in the water. (Photo by Suzi Eszterhas/Minden Pictures/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A Black Pete interacts with children during the arrival of Sinterklaas, or Saint Nicholas, in Maassluis, Netherlands, Saturday, November 12, 2016. Sinterklaas and his helper Black Pete are at the center of a long-time controversy because Pete is often played by white people in blackface makeup. (Photo by Peter Dejong/AP Photo)

Performers dressed as Ded Moroz, the equivalent of Santa Claus, and his granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow Maiden) take on shoe covers as they visit the Republican Scientific and Practical Centre of Pediatric Surgery in Minsk, Belarus, December 28, 2016. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Dinosaur robots acting as receptionist greet a hotel employee demonstrating how to check-in to the hotel during a press preview for the newly-opening Henn na Hotel Maihama Tokyo Bay in Urayasu, east of Tokyo, Japan March 15, 2017. The reception desk is handled by robots that speak Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean, as well as porter robots that help guests carry luggage to their rooms. Tasks such as window-cleaning and vacuuming are also handled by robots. Japan's second robot-run hotel Henn na Hotel (“strange hotel” in Japanese) opened on March 15, 2017 as the robot-staffed hotel near Tokyo, operating company H.I.S. Co. said. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)

A police officer wearing a protective mask walks past the portrait of late communist leader Mao Zedong (not pictured) at Tiananmen Gate in Beijing on January 23, 2020. Large-scale Lunar New Year events in Beijing have been cancelled as part of national efforts to control the spread of a new SARS-like virus, city authorities announced on January 23. (Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP Photo)

A dead crocodile is seen on Huangsha Seafood Market in Guangzhou, Guandong Province, China, 22 January 2018. Tsukiji Market of China or Huangsha Seafood Market is biggest one in Southern China and one of the biggest in China, as there are literally hundreds of different varieties of fish and seafood scattered throughout the market. (Photo by Aleksandar Plavevski/EPA/EFE)