Many threatened rivers are highlighted in this pictorial from The Guardian. The many threats the rivers face are laid bare and range from dams, water rights, and especially pollution. Man’s abuse of these rivers is played out in pictures of trash and chemicals spills. The chemical spills are the results of mining industry along their shores. Asia is heavily represented in this pictorial but there are also rivers in the Americas, Russia, and Oceania represented also.

Key Takeaways:

• From Bangalore’s water riots to Russia’s “river of blood”, rivers are under threat from many sources including industry, agriculture and climate change.
• The Yamuna has become one of the dirtiest rivers in the world. Around 58% of the city’s waste is dumped into it, as is chemical waste from factories producing leather goods, dyes and other products.
• Much of south-east Asia is suffering record drought and tens of millions of people are affected by the low level of the Mekong, a river system that flows into Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

“Housing and agriculture development has disrupted the natural flow of the Everglades waterways in Florida, causing toxic algal blooms. More than half of the original Everglades has been destroyed for industrial and urban development, which has involved draining waterways and creating canals to divert water.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/gallery/2016/sep/22/worlds-threatened-rivers-pollution-industry-agriculture-in-pictures