Progress and a growing economy can have their own drawbacks. In China, the uncontrolled rate of growth has turned the country into an environmental nightmare, leading to shocking images like these.
For one, air pollution in parts of China can be 20 times worse than the recommended safe norm. It‘s a hard problem to avoid – China’s growing economy and urbanization needs energy, and that energy comes from coal, one of the biggest sources of air pollution. Some are likening it to a nuclear winter.
Algal blooms fueled by inorganic compounds choke China’s lakes and waterways. In other places, chemicals turn the water blood red. And to top it all off, China‘s booming economy and industrialization means more urbanization and a bigger middle class – and those two things can produce stupendous amount of trash to clog the waterways as well.

Journalist Takes Sample Of Red Polluted Water From The Jianhe River

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Image credits: Reuters

Boy Swims In Algae-filled Water, Qingdao, Shandong

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Image credits: Reuters

Fishermen Row Boat In Algae-filled Chaohu Lake In Hefei, Anhui Province

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Image credits: Jianan Yu

Labourer Tries To Clean Up Oil From Water, Dalian, Liaoning

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Image credits: Reuters

Boy Tries To Avoid Scattered Rubbish Floating On A Flooded Street In Shantou, Guangdong Province

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Image credits: Reuters

Child Swims In Polluted Reservoir, Pingba

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Image credits: Reuters

Worker Cleans Away Dead Fish At Lake In Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei Province

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Image credits: Reuters

Girl Walks Through Smog In Beijing, Where Small-Particle Pollution Is 40 Times Higher Than International Safety Standards

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Image credits: Kyodo News

Workers Clean Up Floating Garbage On Yangtze River

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Image credits: Reuters

Child Drinks Water From Stream In Fuyuan County, Yunnan Province

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Image credits: Reuters

Workers Try To Drain Sewage Water From Leaking Sewage Tank, Shanghang, Fujian

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Image credits: Reuters

Pollution From A Factory In Yutian, 100km East Of Beijing

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Image credits: Peter Parks

Heavily Polluted River In Jiaxing, Zhejiang

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Image credits: Reuters

Buildings In Beijing Surrounded By Smog

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Image credits: China FotoPress

A Woman Collects Plastic Bottles Near A River Polluted With Reddish Dye

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Image credits: lu palmerini

Woman Walks On A Bridge Over A Polluted River, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province

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Image credits: Carlos Barria

Man Walks By A Pipe Discharging Waste Water Into The Yangtze River

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Image credits: William Hong

Fishermen Clean Up Oil At An Oil Spill Site Near Dalian Port, Liaoning Province

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Image credits: Reuters

Residents Look At A Heavily Polluted River, Zhugao, Sichuan province

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Image credits: independent.co.uk

Dead Fish In Water Filled With Blueish Algae, East Lake, Wuhan

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Image credits: Reuters