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)

Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson of Britain in action during the women's synchronized 10m diving at the Paris Olympics on July 31, 2024. (Photo by Leah Millis/Reuters)

A family member of a torch relay runner wearing a protective mask uses a portable electric fan to cool down as she attends a torch kiss event during Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay celebration at Shinagawa Central Park in Tokyo, Japan, July 21, 2021. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)

Dancers attend a photocall for the new “The One – Grand Show” at Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin, Germany September 28, 2016. The show, which features costumes by French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, premieres on 06 October. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

Amy Rimmer, Research Engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, demonstrates the car manufacturer's Advanced Highway Assist in a Range Rover, which drives the vehicle, overtakes and can detect vehicles in the blind spot, during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire on Friday October 21, 2016. (Photo by Fabio De Paola/PA Wire)

An Omani woman prepares for a traditional dance during a ceremony attended by Britain's Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in Muscat, Oman, Saturday, November 5, 2016. The royal couple have started a three-nation royal tour of the Gulf in Oman. (Photo by Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo)

This undated handout picture taken by Tim Samuel and provided through his Instagram account shows a small fish swimming inside the belly of a jellyfish off the coast of Byron Bay in New South Wales, eastern Australia. A fish has been pictured swimming inside a jellyfish off Australia's east coast in a remarkable and rare image that has gone viral, with more than two million online views. Underwater photographer Tim Samuel was in the water with a friend near popular tourist resort Byron Bay in December when they came across the little creature trapped inside the only slightly larger jellyfish. (Photo by Tim Samuel Photography/AFP Photo/Instagram)

A young Chinese girl kicks during a kung-fu class at Ritan Park on June 11, 2016 in Beijing, China. Ritan, meaning “sun altar”, is among the oldest parks in Beijing, built in the early 1500s during the Ming dynasty for the emperor to make sacrifices to the sun. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)