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 small British company with a dream of building a re-usable space plane has won an important endorsement from the European Space Agency (ESA) after completing key tests on its novel engine technology. Reaction Engines Ltd believes its Sabre engine, which would operate like a jet engine in the atmosphere and a rocket in space, could displace rockets for space access and transform air travel by bringing any destination on Earth to no more than four hours away”. – Chris Wickham via Reuters. Photo: Artist's impression of Skylon. (Photo by Reaction Engines Ltd)

“Cormorant fishing is a traditional fishing method in which fishermen use trained cormorants to fish in rivers. Historically, cormorant fishing has taken place in Japan and China from around 960 AD. and recorded from other places throughout the world”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A cormorant raised by a fisherman catches a fish on a canal on November 27, 2007 in Xitang Town of Jiashan County, Zhejiang Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

A large stainless steel shovel lies on top of steamed crabs at the A.E. Phillips & Son Inc. crab picking house on Hooper's Island in Fishing Creek, Maryland August 26, 2015. Workers speed through the lump and back fin meat inside the crabs while leaving the more tedious task of picking the claws to others. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

A man dressed as Mr. Destructoid checks his mobile phone while gamers play a game at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, in Los Angeles, June 10, 2014. REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn

LA Coroners leave the Beverly Hilton Hotel possibly carrying the body of the singer Whitney Houston in the early hours of February 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, CA. Singer and film star Whitney Houston aged 48 has died in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. (Photo/Toby Canham/Getty Images)

A Hong Kong Vegetarian Society activists lies on a giant plate alongside oversized peas, carrots and cutlery during a protest rally in the tourist district of Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, China, 23 December 2015. The activists urged passers-by to extend the holiday spirit to animals and to give thoughts to the cruelty inflicted on animals in meat productions. (Photo by Jerome Favre/EPA)

Miners carry a goats head for burial in the crater as part of an annual offering ceremony on the Ijen volcano on December 17, 2013 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The ritual is performed by the sulfur miners of Mount Ijen who slaughter a goat and then bury the head in the crater of mount Ijenn. The sacrifice is performed to ward off potential disasters for the next year. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)