Not a single corner on the planet can boast of an ideal state of the environment: people are merciless to nature. But there are places that are especially shocking: first of all, it concerns the rivers, from which we usually expect freshness and purity. In this article, we will provide a sad list of the most polluted rivers on earth.

Mississippi,

The delta of the largest river in North America (and the 4th longest in the world), the greatest natural and economic resource of the United States, is one of the most fertile agricultural areas in the world. Unfortunately, today the waters at the mouth of the Mississippi are increasingly referred to as "dead zones": throughout the entire journey from north to south of the country, the river is overflowing with toxic waste, such as nitrates, benzene and arsenic, sewage, petroleum products and just garbage. Due to terrible pollution, the water at the mouth of the river is overgrown with algae that absorb all the oxygen, and their dominance does not allow any other organisms to survive.

Sarno,

Known in ancient times as Sarnus, the Sarno River in Italy is now one of the most polluted rivers in Europe. It originates on the slope of Vesuvius, flows through Pompeii to Naples and flows into the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Sarno River served as the waterway of southern Italy for centuries, and today its importance in the region is quite large. It is a pity that most of the channel is polluted by the colossal volumes of industrial and agricultural waste, which are dumped into the water every year more and more. The river carries its muddy waters to the Gulf of Naples, which in turn poses a threat to the marine environment.

Marilao,

The condition of a river in the Philippine province of Bulacan, near the Metro Manila metropolitan area, is so deplorable that a concerned government is forced to take serious steps to clean it up. In addition to traditional sources of pollution - toxic industrial waste, the water is full of household waste. Tons of plastic bottles, bags, rubber slippers and other non-decomposing items overwhelm the river, and sewage has made it a source of infection and an accumulation of pathogenic bacteria, so being on the water without protective equipment is strongly discouraged.

huanhe,

The second largest river in Asia and the sixth in the world, the Yellow River (as its name is translated) originates in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, crosses the country and flows into the Bohai Gulf of the Yellow Sea. The territories along the course of the river are considered to be the cradle of the formation of Chinese civilization. The Yellow River - the main source of drinking water - today suffers from catastrophic pollution and more than a third of it is no longer suitable for human use, even in agriculture. According to a UN report, annually about 4.29 thousand tons of industrial waste and sewage fill the Yellow River. In the city of Lanzhzhou, the Yellow River suddenly turned red a few years ago due to the release of unknown chemicals.

Jordan,

When John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the waters of the Jordan, this legendary river was the pride of Israel. Today, signs “Baptism is forbidden due to pollution” hang on the banks, and its condition is rather a reason for shame: instead of a transparent rapid with backwaters and waterfalls, the Jordan, especially in the lower reaches, has turned into a sewer. In 1964, the Israeli government built a dam that destroyed the ecosystem of the river. Now the water of the Jordan is not only dried up and full of garbage, but also stinks due to the huge amount of sewage and agricultural waste dumping.

Yamuna (Jamna),

The largest tributary of the Ganges, flowing from the Lower Himalayas, flows through several states of North India and forms a very fertile valley at the confluence with the Ganges. The waters of this bright river are considered absolutely pure, but only in a spiritual sense. Now the situation with the real state of the river is critical, it is second only to the Ganges in terms of pollution (perhaps because it is smaller in size). Millions of tons of household waste and sewage are dumped into the Yamuna every day, and this monstrous process cannot be stopped. In addition, more and more very dangerous toxic substances have recently been found in the water.

Buriganga,

The Buriganga River plays a huge role in the life of the country: it is an important transport artery and, until recently, the main source of drinking water for the capital of the state, the city of Dhaka. But for some reason, the people of Bangladesh do not appreciate their natural wealth: the water is extremely polluted with chemical and household waste, sewage, medical emissions, technical oil, plastic, and animal corpses. The government is not yet able to stop the clogging of the river and about 1.5 million cubic meters of harmful substances enter it every day. The river is recognized as biologically dead, but the inhabitants of the capital bathe in it and wash their clothes.

Matanza-Riachuelo,

This river flows through the capital of Argentina, the city of Buenos Aires, filling the air with an unpleasant smell. Millions of tons of sewage are poured into it every day, along with a huge amount of household waste. Oil refineries do not hesitate to dispose of chemical waste with the help of the long-suffering Matanza. Pollution does not stop, despite the speeches of environmentalists and government organizations.

Ganges,

The sacred river of Hindus originates in a glacier in the western Himalayas, crosses northern India, flows through Bangladesh and flows into the Bay of Bengal. In 2007, the Ganges was recognized as one of the five most polluted rivers in the world. Spoil the sacred river and industrial waste, and plastic, and sewage, and numerous ritual offerings, and even corpses. But for Hindus, the Ganges is a mother, and a mother cannot be dirty, so they consider it an honor to bathe in "holy water", wash clothes, cook food on its banks and sometimes send the dead downstream. According to a recent study by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), the Ganges is so full of toxic substances that people living along its banks have become sick with cancer more than in any other part of the country.

Chitarum,

The Chitarum River, which flows through West Java, is of great importance in the island's agriculture, water supply, industry, fishing, and electricity generation. At the same time, the river is on the verge of an ecological disaster. It is full of household and industrial waste. In places there is so much garbage on the surface that it is difficult to see that a river is flowing here at all. Plastic bottles, tires, rubber gloves, broken furniture, sewage, harmful chemicals, heavy metals, and more are taken in by the Chitarum River. The level of mercury in water is 100 times higher than the legal limit. The river is on the verge of death, but what will happen to the people living on its banks?

It's no secret that man's influence on nature is great, and often mother nature is inflicted enormous harm. Now it is not uncommon for places on the planet where environmental pollution has taken on grandiose proportions.

For example, the Citarum River is a landmark of Indonesia, which should not be proud of...

It is a well-known fact that certain human activities have a detrimental effect on nature. People over the past 50 years have polluted the environment, as they could not in the entire previous history of human existence. There are many cases when a person, by his influence, has subjected to the disappearance or drying up of many lakes or rivers. What is the Aral Sea worth, of which only 10% remains.

It's amazing how in a few decades people have been able to pollute the once picturesque Indonesian places. You look at the river and do not believe that there is water under the "garbage blanket". We learn some amazing facts about the most polluted water source on Earth and the life of Indonesians on its shores.

Indonesia is an island state in Asia, with numerous large and small islands washed by salty ocean waters. It is clear that in such a situation, fresh water is worth its weight in gold. There has never been a lack of it, there are many rivers in Indonesia, although the water level in them is seasonal. On one of the largest Indonesian islands, the island of Java, the main water artery supplying people with water for all needs (including drinking), was the Citarum River. But in the recent past, from a full-flowing beautiful river, it turned into a fetid stream, in which, due to tons of rotting garbage, water is not visible at all.

The river is located in West Java, Indonesia. This is the dirtiest river in the world. However, water is used as a water supply, to support agriculture, for industrial purposes, etc. The Citarum River is not very large. The width is only 10 m maximum, the depth is even less - 5 m, but its length reaches 300 km. It originates in Indonesia, stretches along the entire western Java, and also flows near the capital Jakarta. The river flows into the Java Sea.

The reason for such a sad environmental situation was industrialization, which began in 1980. Now more than 500 organizations dump their waste into the rivers. In addition, all household waste and sewage ends up in Citarum. This is the waste of more than 9 million people! In 2008, funds were allocated to clean up the river, but this did little to help. It will take more than one decade to completely clean up the river.

Not so long ago, the river was rich in fish, trills and singing birds, flowering gardens grew on the banks. Now you can see only polyethylene trash. The fish has long since died. This is where bacteria thrive.

Blame the industrialization of Indonesia. The country began to develop rapidly, building numerous industrial plants and factories (more than five hundred). A large percentage of them fall on the island of Java. Water is needed in production, so many industrial enterprises were also built along the banks of the Citarum River. Either in pursuit of profit, or because of the unwillingness to take care of the environment, or because of the stupidity of the authorities, but absolutely all enterprises did not build expensive treatment facilities and engage in waste disposal, but took the path of least resistance: all waste production fell down and merged into the river. The cities also contributed, replenishing the water level in the Citarum with sewage.

You see the result. Stinking and decomposing in a fetid slurry - it's hard to call it water - garbage, like a fur coat, covers the entire three hundred-kilometer riverbed.

Imagine what it is like for the inhabitants of small coastal communities, for whom the waters of Citarum are the only source of water, which is used not only for watering agricultural land, but also for washing, cleaning and drinking.

Nightmare! But, as you know, a person can get used to a lot and adapt to the most terrible conditions of existence. That is what happened this time as well. Practically impoverished people have no opportunity to move to other places, so they can only survive in such extreme conditions.

Although this is very difficult, since the polluted river has led to the almost complete disappearance of coastal vegetation, and, accordingly, to the disappearance of animals and birds that used to live in these places.

The fish are gone too. If "foolishly" any school swims into these waters, it quickly floats up belly up. Local residents can only rejoice at such a "lifeless harvest."

Children are children, even in such conditions they are able to find entertainment for themselves, for example, to swim.

Adults, too, have managed to find a small benefit from the polluted river. They get into boats and go fishing. No, not for fish, but for "garbage". People toss themselves in the floating waste and try to find something they can sell for next to nothing, such as plastic containers. Someone is lucky - he manages to find things that can be sold, of course, having previously cleaned and given them a marketable appearance. And leave something for themselves.

Citarum's water was also used to irrigate rice fields, and rice here is the only source of income for many. But what kind of harvest can there be if the fields are irrigated with water, in which the content of harmful impurities is several times higher than the permissible norm? But local residents also drink such water, which, of course, does not add to their health. Of course, the water is boiled before drinking. But this only kills harmful bacteria, but leaves salts of heavy metals and various toxic impurities. These places have the highest percentage of patients with many serious diseases.

The Indonesian authorities understand that it is urgent to take measures to "revitalize" the Citarum River, but this requires huge funds, which the country does not have. Therefore, for now, the Indonesians have a disgusting attraction that is known to the whole world, and a big headache for the population forced to live with it.

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The Volga, one of the largest rivers in Europe and the world, whose basin area accounts for as much as 8% of the entire territory of Russia (1.360.000 km ^ 2), is the most polluted place in the Russian Federation, and it is also the dirtiest river in Europe. Particular attention is paid to the tributaries of the Oka and Kama. Experts from the World Bank concluded that the tributaries are assessed as “very dirty” according to the environmental report, and in some places “extremely dirty”. The mouth of the Volga, according to research by a group of scientists from the University of California, is among the ten most polluted coastal areas.

The main reason for such serious pollution is the concentration of large cities in the river basin. Here is 50% of the country's agricultural production and almost the same industrial. About 60 out of 100 cities with the highest percentage of air pollution are located near or in the river basin. Another significant cause of pollution is unowned and uncontrolled runoff, which, after heavy rains, carries the remains of oil, oil and other impurities into the waters of the Volga. The construction of reservoirs led to a sharp change in the natural regime of the river, which turned the Volga into a series of stagnant lakes. In the 50s of the last century, the water in the Volga was considered drinkable, but in our time it is only a large unsanitary reservoir.

The growth along the banks of blue-green algae in summer is a real disaster for the Volga reservoirs. Covering 25-30% of the water surface of reservoirs, these organisms are able to release about 300 different types of organic substances, most of which are poisonous. Moreover, without monitoring, more than 75% of the emitted substances are unknown. When dying, algae fall to the bottom, where they decompose and create an ideal environment for their self-reproduction. In the process, phosphorus and nitrogen are released, which causes secondary water pollution.

Pollution most threatens the small tributaries of the Volga. Only in Nizhny Novgorod there are 12 such rivers. The Rzhavka River is recognized as the most toxic and dirty. Oil-containing products flow there from garage cooperatives, and on the shore there is a real dump from industrial enterprises.

Mississippi

A little more than 300 years have passed since the first European colonizers found themselves on the banks of the largest North American river - the Mississippi. And in just a relatively short period of time, the waters of this river, from its source in Minnesota to its mouth in Louisiana, are poisoned. The main reason, oddly enough, was the man and his activities.

Until a couple of decades ago, Mississippi water was so pure you could drink it. Many kayakers enjoyed spending time on the waves of this river. But today, here and there, the dead carcasses of alligators, fish and other inhabitants of the Mississippi waters are found.

The Indians who once lived on the banks of this river called it the "Father of the Waters", whose waters are cleared by themselves throughout the entire course. But then came the industrial age. Today, hundreds of industrial and agricultural effluents come to the river, which have undermined the health of the “great river” for many years.

Already near the source of the river, researchers discovered chlorine-containing hydrocarbons (widely used in the modern chemical industry), which enter the water through the atmosphere. Naturally, fishing in these places is strictly prohibited. Conducting an analysis of the air sphere, environmentalists discovered about 100 different toxic substances constantly circulating in the US atmosphere. When they enter rivers, such substances settle to the bottom, where they mix with silt, and this is already a breeding ground for algae, then fish and, directly, humans. These chemicals are represented by nitric oxide, sulfur, carbon, which are waste products from oil refining, contained in pesticides applied to the soil, in household chemicals.

"Big Dirty", as the Americans call Missouri, connects with the Mississippi in the state of the same name. Here the river becomes much more turbulent. Even the first Europeans were amazed at the speed of the current, which easily carried upturned trees on itself. After a while, technological pollution was added to this natural pollution: waste from oil refining, pulp and paper mills, food enterprises and metallurgical plants. And there are a huge number of such cities along the river.

Chitarum

Stretching for 300 kilometers across the island of Java in Indonesia, the Chitarum River has been the most valuable water resource for local residents for thousands of years. Until now, the river is used in agriculture, electricity generation and urban water supply.

Due to the unprecedented growth of industry in the region, the river deserves the title of the dirtiest river in the world. The environmental protection of the river has not kept up with such a rapid growth in industry, and measures for the safe and environmentally friendly disposal of waste have not been taken into account.

The banks of the river have become a profitable place for the construction of factories and factories, as well as a place for dumping waste. For decades, the river has been filled with all sorts of poisonous chemicals. The sharp increase in population in Java has increased the amount of household waste. Due to these factors, the surface of the river has turned into a dense garbage canvas, which is the cause of many diseases. Life in the river has long since almost ceased to exist. In addition, residents of numerous villages use contaminated water in everyday life: they wash their clothes, believing that the chemicals in the water will help destroy harmful bacteria; children bathe in the river and use debris as toys. Although residents are well aware of the dangers of waste, some simply lack the basic knowledge to understand the harm that chemicals can cause. Many fishermen stopped doing their usual business and began to collect garbage and hand it over for processing, which is much more profitable.

In 2008, US$15 million was allocated to clean up the river, as well as to train local people in how to manage it. Today, the surface of the river is no longer so densely covered with debris, but factories continue to pour their toxic waste into it, and for many people, its waters replace sewers. That is why this the dirtiest river in the world.

Technological progress, which benefits humanity, often greatly harms nature. Most people are accustomed to a carefree existence and hardly think about how hard it is for our common home. River pollution is one of the scourges of our time. Which of the rivers is considered the most polluted on our planet?

Chitarum

The dirtiest river in the world flows on the Indonesian island of Java. It is the longest river in the western part of the island. It plays an important role in agriculture, water and electricity supply, fisheries, industry and sewerage.

The river has an ancient history: as early as the 4th century, pottery flourished at its mouth. Along the river, three power hydroelectric power plants have been installed, providing energy to a large area around Jakarta. The waters from the dams are also used to irrigate rice fields, making the northern lowlands leading in rice production.

80% of the river water is actively used, and this has led to such severe pollution that some farmers have been forced to sell their fields at a low cost. Water is polluted mainly by textile factories that dump their toxic waste (lead, mercury, arsenic, etc.). In 2008, an Asian bank approved a $500 million loan for water treatment.

Sacred to the people of India, the river, sadly, is also one of the dirtiest rivers in the world. The waters of the Ganges pose a danger to the health of five hundred million people living in its vicinity and in one way or another in contact with it. The Ganges becomes dirty due to the numerous effluents discharged into the water by the inhabitants, as well as due to the large number of factories and plants.

One section of the river contains 200 times the norm for faecal bacteria

The cities along the riverbed are overpopulated and the population is increasing every year. A lot of human waste and sewage gets into the river, because of which you can not only use water for drinking and cooking, but even just touch it, this is fraught with intestinal infections. The authorities have repeatedly discussed the possibility of cleaning the river, but almost nothing has been done for this.

One of the dirtiest rivers in the world is the Buriganga, which flows in Bangladesh. It is extremely important for the economy of the city of Dhaka in terms of water communication.

Since ancient times, Dhaka has been an important trading port due to its convenient location on the banks of the river. Today, Buriganga suffers from deadly pollution, in particular, chemical waste, sewage, plastics, oil, animal carcasses.

Dhaka generates about 4,500 tons of waste daily, and most of it is released into the river. Most coastal businesses do not have a wastewater treatment system. These are mainly textile, pharmaceutical and printing factories.

Due to the fact that Dhaka is highly dependent on shipping, a lot of food waste also gets into the water - rotten fruits, vegetables, fish. More than four million people are exposed to the harmful effects of pollution every day. The government has been criticized for its inability or unwillingness to make a difference.

One newspaper article in 2004 reported that 80% of all wastewater is untreated

Another Indian river, one of the dirtiest rivers in the world. It is noteworthy that in 1909 its waters were described as "pure blue" (compared to the yellowness of the Ganges). But due to the high growth in population density and the high rate of industrialization, the Yamuna became rapidly polluted.

The capital New Delhi dumps more than half of all its waste into this river. The Government of India spent five hundred million dollars to clean up the river, but this did not give much results. Perhaps this is due to the fact that most wastewater treatment plants are underfunded or incorrectly funded.

Money for purification continues to be allocated, for example, in 2007 a plan was developed according to which the water was supposed to be 90% cleaner by 2010, but this was not entirely successful.

The water level does not change for almost nine months of the year, which exacerbates the process of cleaning the river

The degradation of this Chinese river began in the 1950s, when thousands of kilometers of dams were built for land reclamation, irrigation, and to control floods and disease-carrying microbes. Thus, more than a hundred lakes became cut off from the main river. Gates were installed that can be opened in case of floods.

However, despite the prohibitions, many farmers began to settle on land near the lakes. When the threat of a flood came, the gates were not opened, because this would bring significant destruction. Thus, almost all lakes have dried up, fishing in this area has halved, and the biological diversity of fish has also decreased. Pollution is exacerbated by the discharge of waste from the pig farm, as well as untreated sewage.

Many animals have lost their natural habitat. In 2006, the world lost the last member of the Chinese river dolphin species.

By September 2012, the water in the Yangtze turned scarlet from pollution.

Huanghe

China's Yellow River, according to a 2006 report, is one-third unusable for agriculture or industry as a result of wastewater from factories and the rapid growth of coastal cities. When examining the river, 33% received the fifth level, according to the UN classification, the water of the fifth level becomes unsuitable for drinking, fishing and industrial needs.

The most polluted of all the rivers in Russia is the Volga, the largest body of water in Europe.

In 2009, according to a study by the University of California, they compiled statistics from which it turned out that the coastal zones of the river are extremely affected by both industrial and domestic pollution.

At the moment, almost half of the industrial and agricultural production of the country is concentrated in the river basin. And almost 38% of all sewage waste is dumped here. According to statistics produced by experts, the load on the Volga's water resources exceeds the average load in Russia by eight times. Moreover, organized drains, that is, industrial ones, are not the main threat, since they can at least be controlled. The main pollution is the fault of orphan wastewater.

Storm flows also play a significant role, through the fault of which oil products, for example, oils, enter the river.

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The dirtiest river in Australia. In the 1880s, active copper mining began there and, accordingly, wastewater was discharged. Between 1922 and 1995, low-grade mining residues and sulphide waste, as well as huge amounts of acid enriched metals, were also released into the water. As a result, acid rains followed in the immediate area.

In 1995, the mine was closed and waste no longer entered the river. However, acidic waters continue to flow into it from the mountains. Thus, the river is still toxic to aquatic organisms to this day.

In the summer of 2013, the Greenpeace water patrol collected 10 water samples from this reservoir and conducted a laboratory analysis with them. Absolutely all the results revealed a significant excess of the amount of heavy metal, as well as oil products.

As you know, an excessive amount of strontium can cause bone disease, and an excess of aluminum can cause nervous system disorders. Near the oil refinery, a 120-fold excess of manganese was found, and this is a serious risk factor for blood diseases and impaired immunity.

The results of the analyzes were sent to Rosprirodnadzor and the Moscow Prosecutor's Office to solve the problem of pollution of the Moskva River

This Philippine body of water is full of plastic wraps, rubber slippers and other household waste. In addition, water is extremely dangerous due to the content of pesticides such as cadmium and arsenic. Both factories and ordinary people continue to dump their garbage and sewage into the water, despite impressive fines and the activity of environmentalists.

Workers do not have time to clean the reservoir from pollution

This is not a complete list of heavily polluted rivers of the Earth. We can also mention the Matanza River, which flows through the capital of Argentina, and the sacred Jordan River. There is no justification for the irresponsible attitude of mankind towards the cleanliness of rivers, because it was near them that our ancestors settled from time immemorial, fished in them, navigation was organized along them, and drinking water was taken from them. Taking into account all this significance, the authorities should throw their efforts into eradicating the barbaric attitude to such important water resources.

When you look at these pictures depicting the rivers killed by man, you understand that the pollution of nature can bring death to mankind!

Marilao River, Philippines

Marilao is one of the 50 dead rivers in the Philippines. Industrial effluents from numerous industrial enterprises and garbage thrown into the water by 250 thousand inhabitants living on its banks have killed all living things in the river. Today, Greenpeace launched a campaign to save Marilao, but the Philippine government, alas, is not interested in this problem yet.

Han River, China

The Han River today is completely covered with a layer of algae due to severe water pollution from industrial waste.

Yamuna River, India

Yamuna is one of the sacred rivers of India and the main source of drinking water for the city of New Delhi. But the residents and municipal authorities of New Delhi do not seem to care: 58% of the city's sewage discharge goes straight to the Yamuna. Anything can be found in its waters, from dead bodies to toxic impurities and household garbage. The Indian authorities recognize the problem, but do not take any effective measures.

Citarum River, Indonesia

This river is officially recognized as the dirtiest on the planet. More than 5 million people live on its shores, and about 50 thousand of them die every year due to its pollution. The most annoying thing is that the main source of pollution is household waste, which residents habitually dump into the water. To date, according to experts, about 6 million tons of garbage have accumulated in the waters of Citarum.

Huangpu River, China

Huangpu is the main source of drinking water for Shanghai. At the same time, the waters of the river are full of household garbage and toxic chemicals. The residents of Shanghai seem to have become accustomed to this. However, an incident in 2013 shocked even them. Then local farmers dumped 16,000 dead pigs into Huangpu. True, when the wave of indignation subsided, everything remained the same.

Niger River, Nigeria

The Niger Delta is the main place for Nigerian oil production and at the same time the most oil-polluted river delta in the world. Up to 240,000 barrels of oil are dumped into the Niger Delta every year. For 25 years, from 1976 to 2001, real environmental disasters occurred here every year, associated with large emissions of petroleum products into the Niger Delta. However, the country's government is more concerned about oil production than the environment.

Pasig River, Philippines

The locals have been walking along the Pasig River for a long time, like dry land. But this is not a miracle, but the result of the fact that Filipinos living on the banks of Pasig massively dump household garbage into the water. Every day, about 1,500 tons (!) of household waste enters Pasig.

Red River, China

The Red River is located in Wenzhou, China. True, it received its name quite recently. The waters of the river turned red in 2014 when an unknown chemical dye was dumped here by a local business. Over the past two years, the authorities have not been able to find the culprit, the water of the river, which used to be a source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people, has not regained its original color, and the new name of the river has already become familiar to local residents and, it seems, will remain with her forever.

Ganges River, India

The Ganges River is the largest and most sacred river in India. In the waters of the Ganges, numerous religious ceremonies are performed every day, including funerals, during which the body of the deceased is simply released to float on the sacred waters of the Ganges. After that, the Hindus without embarrassment take a bath in the Ganges, bathe and even drink from the river!

Mississippi, USA

The Mississippi has always been considered America's most iconic river. But today it is also the dirtiest in the United States. And all thanks to industrial effluents. In 2010, US industrial companies dumped 12.7 million tons of toxic chemicals into Mississippi waters. And in 2014, General Electric finished the job by dumping 31,000 gallons of crude oil into Mississippi. So today swimming in Mississippi is strongly discouraged.

Lakes of Rajasthan, India

The lake system of Rajasthan - Jal Mahal, Jaisamand and Udaisagar lakes - is considered the dirtiest lake system in the world. Factories located on the shores of lakes have been dumping garbage into them for decades and draining drains contaminated with toxic chemicals. Sunita Narain, director of the Indian Center for Environmental Studies, is sounding the alarm, saying lake pollution is threatening India's nature as a whole. But while the lakes covered with garbage remain an ulcer on the body of the Earth.

Rivers of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The whole world was horrified to learn about the monstrous level of pollution in the water basin of Rio de Janeiro on the eve of the 2016 Olympic Games. Water athletes spoke with indignation about rowing competitions in monstrously dirty water, which the country's authorities did not have time to clean up for the Olympics. But even after the Games, nothing has changed. Rio's industries continue to dump waste into the city's rivers, and Brazil's federal law does not allow the perpetrators to be properly punished. Tens of thousands of fish that surfaced belly up have long become a familiar part of the local landscape.

Cuyahoga River, Ohio, USA

The Cuyahoga River in industrial Cleveland was one of the first in the world to experience all the environmental "charms" of industrialization. Its pollution by industrial effluents has been going on since the beginning of the 20th century. In 1969, a factory burned down on the river bank, after which the water condition deteriorated sharply. During this time, more than a dozen species of aquatic life have become extinct in Cuyahoga.

Matanza Riachuelo, Argentina

Seven million people living on the banks of the Matanza-Riachuelo River in Argentina are constantly experiencing health problems. But industrialists do not care: enterprises located on the banks of the river dump poisonous effluents directly into the river. In fairness, it should be noted that the inhabitants of the surrounding areas also contribute to the pollution of the river with household waste. As a result, about 3 million cubic meters of dirt enter Matanza Riachuelo every day - from chemical industrial waste to household garbage.

Jinghe River, China

Familiar sight, right? But this is not the Red River, but the Bloody River. Its official name is Jinghe, but the locals haven't called it that for a long time - ever since the local factory for the production of New Year's decorations and fireworks began to drain industrial effluents containing dyes in Jinghe. The most incredible thing is that government agencies stubbornly declare that the water in the river is clean enough, and its color is simply not worth paying attention to.