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 man and a girl take a dip in icy waters during celebrations for the Orthodox Epiphany in the Sea of Japan in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, Russia, January 19, 2016. Orthodox believers mark Epiphany on January 19 by immersing themselves in icy waters regardless of the weather. (Photo by Yuri Maltsev/Reuters)

This image released by Esquire shows actress Penelope Cruz on the November 2014 cover of “Esquire” magazine. The magazine has named Cruz The Sexiest Woman Alive for 2014. (Photo by AP Photo/Esquire)

An athlete pulls a 15-tonne truck during a Truck-Pull event marking the upcoming Independence Day in the Belarus capital Minsk, on July 3, 2014. The former Soviet nation celebrates its Independence Day on July 3 in memory of the end of Belarus occupation by Nazi Germany troops during the Red Army main summer offensive in 1944. (Photo by Sergei Gapon/AFP Photo)

Eight-year-old Lactatia a.k.a. Nemis Quinn Mélançon Golden gets a makeover by Ginger Minj during RuPaul's DragCon NYC 2017 at The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on September 9, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)

A raccoon scratches herself on the window sill of the Paige Donnelly Law Firm on the 23rd floor of the UBS Plaza building in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S., June 12, 2018, in this image obtained from social media. (Photo by Evan Frost/MPR News via Reuters)

A demonstrator uses a slingshot during a protest against Chile's government in Santiago, Chile, November 14, 2019. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

Garbage men race on their tricycles along the track during the garbage men bicycle race at Ban Jelacic square in Zagreb, Croatia, 19 August 2020. Zagreb's authorities organised a street festival named “Cest is the best” despite the coronavirus pandemic in Croatia with some 219 infected people. (Photo by Antonio Bat/EPA/EFE)