The ecological situation on our planet is extremely depressing. For many years, mankind has been neglectful of the issues of pollution of the atmosphere, water and healthy food. Money is paramount these days, and no amount of environmental legislation is a hindrance to corporations around the world seeking maximum profit. This is a glaring problem of our time.
Of course, it will not be resolved by itself, and if people continue to close their eyes to the bitter truth, then our planet will continue to turn into a continuous huge dump, so you need to start taking action now, before it’s too late. But who cares about environmental issues if everyone is focused only on personal material gain? However, it is likely that you will change your point of view, having seen the state of some reservoirs of our mother Earth.
The most polluted rivers in the world can “boast of»China, India, Brazil and other developing countries. Nevertheless, the situation in developed countries is also disappointing. America is just as happily dumping its waste into rivers, just like China. Moreover, this is done in such quantities that in the relatively near future, humanity may face the problem of an acute shortage of fresh water.
The fact is that we ourselves let go of the deeds of snickering production owners, who can only repeat the same ridiculous excuses, committing terrible crimes against nature. In the meantime, people suffer, for whom these reservoirs serve as a source of life, not to mention flora and fauna. Millions of tons of fish die each year as a result of water pollution. Well, let's start our tour of the dirtiest rivers in the world. Also take a look at the article 10 Weird and Dangerous Places Where People Live.
15. Marilao, Philippines
Marilao is one of 50 biologically dead rivers in the Philippines. Don't you find it strange that the body of water, supposedly the source of life for 250 thousand inhabitants, is actually dead? You are right, the whole point is the devil-may-care attitude of local enterprises dumping industrial waste in Marilao, while the country's authorities do nothing to solve this problem.
Just take a look at the photo. Do you think it looks more like a pond full of garbage or a flooded landfill? I think that even the Filipinos themselves cannot answer this question. While factories are pouring sewage into the river, the local population is poisoned by water, which is abundant in a huge variety of heavy metals. The only ray of light on this horror is shed by Greenpeace, which has joined the program to combat pollution of the waters of Marilao. We can only hope that the government of the Philippines will cooperate with them.
14. Han Shui, China
Do you know the feeling when you go into the river for a swim, and in the end you find yourself in the middle of the water, completely covered with frost, a viscous layer of algae? This is what can await us in the future, if we do not start caring for the environment. Hubei province already has such a river, which has turned green as a result of industrial emissions.
I have no idea how this man got the courage to plunge into the algae-infested Han Shui waters, but I certainly wouldn't. Unfortunately, the locals have no other choice. Pollutants are widely distributed in the waters of Chinese rivers and people are forced to adapt to these conditions.
The government is unable to control the rapidly developing industry, but even if it could, too much money is being invested in the development of industrial enterprises, and environmental problems are clearly not a priority in this case.
13. Jamna, India
Jamna is one of the holiest rivers in India. It is sad to admit this, but it seems that the Indians have forgotten how to handle their shrines. In addition, Jamna is one of the main sources of drinking water in India, especially New Delhi. However, about 58% of the waste is discharged into it. It doesn't take a genius to realize that clogging up the water you yourself drink is idiocy.
However, everything from household rubbish and toxic chemicals to charred corpses can be found here... Undoubtedly one of the dirtiest rivers on the planet. The Indian government is making some attempts to stop pollution, but this can hardly be called real action.
12. Chitarum, Indonesia
The Chitarum is considered the most littered river in the world. And this despite the fact that the lives of five million people depend on it. About 50 thousand people die every year due to pollution. Ironically, these are the very people who make Chitarum look like a dump.
Researchers estimate Chitarum is filled with over 6 million tons of household and industrial waste. These numbers are unlikely to tell you anything, so just take a look at the photo. It is only with difficulty that it is possible to discern sections of water on it among the layer of waste. Some people are still trying to make the river at least a little cleaner by collecting garbage, but it seems that this is no longer feasible.
The Asian Development Bank has proposed to the government of Indonesia “small loan"In the amount of $ 500 million to cleanse Chitarum, we can only hope that the authorities will be able to competently dispose of this money.
11. Huangpu, China
Despite the abundance of toxic metals and other chemicals, the Huangpu river is the main source in Shanghai. Until now, people have no choice but to drink this water. Completing the picture is the incident of 2013, when local farms dumped about 16 thousand dead pigs here.
Just imagine that you are peacefully splashing in the water, when suddenly thousands of pork corpses float to the surface. Little pleasant, isn't it? Chinese agricultural experts have compared Huangpu to a pool full of dead flies with a commensurate impact on water quality, not to mention that the water in the river is in constant flux, spreading pathogens. And if 16 thousand pork carcasses are not a problem for China, then what?
10. Niger Delta, Nigeria
The Niger Delta is probably one of the most oil-polluted places on the planet, as Nigeria produces the lion's share of black gold here. About 240,000 barrels of oil are released into the water every year, even worse, the government of Nigeria does not take any measures to clean it up. For 25 years from 1976 to 2001, there were daily oil spills, mainly due to the poor quality of oil platforms.
The country's authorities intended to mine black gold as quickly as possible, without worrying about environmental problems. To top it off, there are dozens of oil thieves here, targeting oil platforms and causing oil spills into the water. Thus, while the wealthy fight for influence over profitable areas, the local population suffers from industrial damage. In particular, damage to crops, causing widespread famine in these lands.
9. Pasig, Philippines
The Pasig River (if it can still be called a river) looks, frankly, disgusting. The amount of garbage in it has reached such a level that people can easily walk on its surface, like Jesus. Not such an amazing sight, you must agree.
This time the industry is responsible for "only" 30% of the total amount of emissions into the river. The rest is on the conscience of local residents. It dumps 1,500 tons of garbage into Pasig every day. Just terrifying numbers, it's no surprise that the reservoir looks like a huge dump.
Why, let's call a spade a spade - this is a huge dump! The government of the country has established special bodies to solve the problem, the effectiveness of which, however, leaves much to be desired.
8. Red River in Wenzhou, China
This river has lost its former name, and now people call it only the Red River. In 2014, shocked local residents reported that the water in the river suddenly turned red overnight. Before that, there were no cases of emissions into the river, and people used its water as drinking water.
However, everything ever happens for the first time. Jianfeng Xiao, head of the Wenzhou Environmental Protection Organization, said: “We suspect someone dumped food coloring into the water, believing yesterday's typhoon would cause heavy rain».
Unfortunately, there was no rain that day, so the chemicals remained in the water for quite some time. The situation most colorfully illustrates the irresponsible attitude of industrialists towards nature, who commit grave crimes against it without punishment.
7. Ganges, India
The Ganges is the longest river in India. It is also sacred and serves for various spiritual ceremonies, including funerals. I don’t want to sound skeptical, but it seems to me that Hindu deities would not be too happy to see people praying on the shore of such a littered body of water. Why can't people be more decent?
It's just ridiculous to listen to stories about the healing properties of water from the Ganges, which in fact can only be poisoned. However, this does not stop devout Hindus who perform purification rituals surrounded by tons of industrial waste and other garbage dumped into the Ganges by indifferent people. According to scientists, thousands of people have developed cancer while drinking water from the Ganges, the holiest of all rivers in the world. Alas, life knows a lot about irony.
6. Mississippi, USA
If you think that in such a developed country as the United States there are no dirty bodies of water, then you are wrong. Mississippi, one of the main symbols of America, also suffers from pollution. In 2010, industrial companies illegally dumped about 6 thousand tons of toxic substances into its waters. In addition, unscrupulous fuel producers spill huge amounts of oil into the river every year, such as the company General electricthat spilled 31,500 gallons of light oil in 2014.
Probably now you would prefer to go on vacation to some other place. People disdain to swim and fish in this river, let alone drink from it. As you can see, not only Asian countries are experiencing difficulties with polluted water bodies. Unfortunately, ordinary people are unable to change anything when the government is not interested in solving environmental problems.
5. Lakes of Rajasthan, India
While our list is all about rivers, the lakes of Rajasthan are also worthy of mention. They are huge waste dumps where businesses and local people dump their garbage, which makes Jal Mahal, Jaisamand and Udai Sagar the dirtiest lakes on the planet.
According to Sanita Narain, head of the Science and Environment Center, further aggravation of the situation is unacceptable. The announcement was made in 2016, when Brexit and Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election sent a wake-up call to the world. She also stated that the Center is fully aware of the state of affairs in unsafe water bodies, and India must begin to take active action before the situation gets out of control, leading to the death of people.
4. Rivers of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Do you remember the environmental scandals in Rio de Janeiro ahead of the Olympic Games? The best athletes from all over the world have been forced to live in dire conditions. It was especially hard for the rowers, who had to compete in extremely dirty waters, due to the fact that the Brazilian leadership did not take care of creating adequate conditions for the competition. And what do you think, has something changed after the Olympics? Nothing changed.
As a result of pollution in the rivers of Rio de Janeiro, fish are dying in colossal quantities. The reason is trivial - unpunished activity of industrial enterprises and the absence of state control over them. It appears that the industrial sector has some kind of corrupt relationship with the government of the country. And if this is not the case, then the authorities are completely blind and incompetent. In any case, such a high level of water pollution cannot but affect the living conditions of the local residents.
3. Cuyahoga, USA
The Cayahoga is one of the first rivers to experience the bitter fate of chemical pollution. Cleveland is a large industrial center, and Cuyahoga, on which this city is located, has been influenced by merged sewage for a long time since the beginning of the 20th century. It was engulfed in flames many times, in particular the infamous 1969 fire that destroyed countless fish and other living things and caused over $ 100,000 in property damage by destroying two railway bridges. The incident served as a sad lesson for all of America, making it clear how not to deal with your own nature.
The Cuyahoga fire caused a huge media response, and the US government was forced to take action. However, no matter how strict the legislation is, as long as enterprises only care about their profits, neglecting the preservation of nature, everything will remain the same.
2. Matanza, Argentina
Seven million people living in the vicinity of the Matanza River experience numerous health problems, unsanitary conditions and lack of drinking water due to local elites' disregard for the preservation of the environment. Every day, about 85 thousand cubic meters of new waste gets into the river, not counting the oil companies responsible for the colossal oil spills. This is just crazy!
Most of all from such cruel acts of Argentine companies suffer the local children with weakened immune systems, catching various diseases through polluted water. Thus, the Argentine wealthy are rowing gold, and the poor are paying the price. And the Argentines are not alone in their misfortune, this happens all over the world. However, this does not make it easier for them.
1. Jianhe, China
We have already talked about one red-water river from China. And she's not the only one of its kind. It's time to get to know Jianhe, also known as the Blood River. Why Bloody? Take a look at the photo and everything will become clear to you. In 2011, workers dumped the surplus left over from preparations for the Chinese New Year into it, not expecting the water to change color so dramatically as a result of their negligence.
Such an incident caused a huge resonance even in China, despite the fact that environmental pollution in this country is a common thing. The people were outraged by such a daring desecration of nature. However, the Chinese government has stated that the water in Jianhe is harmless and people should not worry about it. There are no words. Fortunately, today the waters of Jianhe have returned to their normal state.
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The authorities of the country began to worry about one of the rivers from our list: a rare species of dolphins still live in the dirtiest river in India, the Ganges, so the head of state began to take decisive actions to cleanse it.
