Seehund “Bruno” looks out of his transport box before making his way to the water on the beach of the island of Juist, Germany on August 14, 2013. Four young seals were released after six weeks of recovery at a rescue station in Norden-Norddeich. (Photo by Carmen Jaspersen/AFP Photo/DPA)

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)

Participants wear traditional clogs as shepherds lead their sheep through the center of Madrid, October 28, 2012. (Photo by Andres Kudacki/Associated Press)

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (back) attend a reception to honour graduates of military academies at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, June 28, 2016. (Photo by Alexei Druzhinin/Reuters/Sputnik/Kremlin)

A performer dressed as Empress Huang of the China's Forbidden City takes part in a musical performance at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur on January 22, 2017 as part of the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations marking the Year of the Rooster. (Photo by Manan Vatsyayana/AFP Photo)

A worker roasts rows of freshly slaughtered pigs, known locally as “lechon” and famously served as main courses during the New Year revelry, at a store in Manila, Philippines, December 31, 2016. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Reuters)

Labourers pour molten iron into a container at a foundry in Xiangfan, Hubei province in this July 2, 2010 file photo. Iron ore is enjoying its biggest rally in years, outpacing copper and oil so far in 2016, but still weak forward prices show it may be tough to stretch the bullish outlook. Improving steel prices in top market China are helping fuel iron ore's climb as producers gear up for a seasonal uptick in demand. Yet there is no shortage of doubters who see gains in the bulk commodity as fleeting given a large glut and challenges for China's economy. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A man carries floats as he walks on an algae covered beach as a truck collecting algae passes by, along the coastline in Qingdao, Shandong province, July 6, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)