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)

Two and a half year-old Jennifer Martin in tears during a visit to Santa at Harrods department store in London, 10th December 1949. (Photo by William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

British housewives toss pancakes in skillets as they run through the streets of Olney, England, in the community's annual race which follows a 500-year-old tradition, February 6, 1951. Mrs. Isabel Dix, 22, extreme right, won the race covering the 415 yards from the Parish pump to the door of Sts. Peter and Paul church in one minute, 12.1 seconds. (Photo by AP Photo)

Dancers take part in a parade to mark the opening of the annual Bali Art Festival on a main road in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, 12 June 2022. The Bali Art Festival runs from 12 June to 10 July 2022 and features hundreds of performers. (Photo by Made Nagi/EPA/EFE)

An actor performs as a zombie during the “Train to Apocalypse” event at a Light Rail Transit (LRT) train station in Jakarta, Indonesia, 09 September 2022. The Indonesian capital's LRT operator modified train cars and stations into zombie apocalypse settings to promote the use of public transportations. (Photo by Mast Irham/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Nearly two dozen New Standard Academy students showed up in their finest threads at the school on Flint's north side on Saturday, May 14, 2022 before heading to the Infinity Yacht in St. Clair Shores in the Safe Harbor Jefferson Beach Marina for dinner and dancing at “A Starry Night” theme prom. (Photo by Jake May/MLive.com via AP Photo)

These two ladies received some important messages on Valentine's night in Manchester, England on February 14, 2020. Brits celebrated Valentine's Day in style last night – proving you can have a good time even if you don't have a partner. (Photo by Mercury Press/The Sun)

A worker collects rubber sap at a farm in Songon village, north of Abidjan, February 3, 2016. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)