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)

A South Sudanese model applies make-up during the Festival of Fashion and Arts for Peace in Juba August 9, 2014. (Photo by Andreea Campeanu/Reuters)

Indian Runner ducks march past farm buildings at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 16, 2016. Each day, a quack squad of killer ducks are released for the first of two sorties at South Africa's Vergenoegd wine farm in Stellenbosch. Their mission – seek and destroy thousands of pests out to ruin the season's harvest. Fanning out across the vineyards, some 1,000 Indian Runner ducks hone in on their hidden targets with uncanny precision, locating the tiny white dune snails feasting on budding vines. (Photo by Mike Hutchings/Reuters)

A dog groomer prepares a model dog during the 2nd Annual Shenzhen International Pet Exhibition, July 14, 2016, in Shenzhen, China. The pet exhibition runs from July 14 - 17, 2016 at the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center. (Photo by VCG/Getty Images)

A man carries a woman across a river at Petit Goave where a bridge collapsed during the rains of the Hurricane Matthew, southwest of Port-au-Prince, October 5, 2016. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

Indian labourers carry clay bricks to a brick kiln in Farakka, in the Indian state of West Bengal, on April 3, 2019. (Photo by Xavier Galiana/AFP Photo)

A dolphin swims alongside ships and fishing boats at the Bosphorus in Arnavutkoy district of Istanbul, Turkiye on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Isa Terli/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A person takes part in the annual LGBTQ+ Pride parade in Phuket, Thailand on June 4, 2023. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)