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51 Comments
- xxmjumpman23xx, on 06/11/2009, -0/+29Despicable. The pollution of our environment is really frightening. It's happening on such a grand scale all over the world. We are really ***** up our planet no doubt about it.
- MargotCross, on 06/10/2009, -0/+25sad.
- gvoakes, on 06/11/2009, -3/+21The thumbnail looked like a giant hamburger with people hanging off of it
- NBCLocal, on 06/24/2009, -1/+18It is so disgusting that Lake Onondaga, the lake Syracuse was built around, is on this list. Dugg for bringing awareness to these contaminated bodies of water.
- DommoOrigato, on 06/11/2009, -1/+13Meh, The great lakes are actually pretty clean, in fact too clean due to the zebra mussel invasion.
While it's definitely true pollution was a huge issue in the past, that's largely been rectified in the past few decades. The bald eagles are back in abundance as are other birds of prey. As alpha predators those critters are usually the prime indicators of the health of the lakes, because pollution tends to attack the bottom of the food chain first, and without the critters lower on the totem pole, the alpha predators just aren't around..
In any event the lakes while not 100% recovered from the past abuses, aren't even in the same league as the other stuff on this list. - tymekpavel, on 06/11/2009, -0/+11mirror (all on one page): http://www.viewpic.org/pgfrp4/v7wp50/a1jp0t/o5gq8i ...
- mrpunman, on 06/11/2009, -1/+9WTF Indonesia
- Parastie, on 06/11/2009, -1/+8Dugg for slideshow warning.
- Brododium, on 06/11/2009, -0/+5http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/2009/06/worlds ...
Is how I imagine the River Ankh. - asgardshill, on 06/11/2009, -0/+5I'm surprised and pleased that the Cuyahoga River (the one that actually caught on fire in 1969) didn't make it onto this list. It's certainly still heavily polluted in places, but it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be.
- Ajax89, on 06/11/2009, -0/+5Self Destruction.
- fbass2000, on 06/11/2009, -0/+5I don't want to defend indonesia, but this Citarum river is the worst of the worsts. I haven't been there myself. But there are many rivers that also higly polluted, though much below the level of Citarum.
Anyway Indonesia is a big country and there are many other rivers that are actually clean, rural, and beautiful. Though it's only the matter of time for the people to begin polluting it
/sad. - DouglasQ, on 06/11/2009, -6/+10Phew. I was just about to start my tour of swimming and drinking in most rivers and lakes around the world. This article couldn't have come at a better time.
- lemayo, on 06/11/2009, -0/+4I was wondering where the Mississippi would place on this list. I live in eastern IA, and my house is situated not more than four blocks from the river. At least I'm able to fish up here..but I wouldn't ever step foot in it.
- drummerguy520, on 06/11/2009, -0/+4I thought the Citarum River was just a road in that shot.
- mrpunman, on 06/11/2009, -1/+4What are you trying to say actually?
- dcmcderm, on 06/11/2009, -0/+3What about Lake Springfield?
- wizzroom, on 06/11/2009, -1/+4being of asian descent, i gotta say i'm pretty ashamed of my kind as we tend to not give a ***** about mother nature.
- warsongs7, on 06/11/2009, -0/+3I wonder how dirty the Ganges is.
- eleminop, on 06/11/2009, -1/+4no mention of the "New River" that flows north from mexico into the us?
The New River’s flow is composed of waste from agricultural and chemical runoff from the farm industry irrigation in the U.S. (18.4%) and Mexico (51.2%), sewage from Mexicali (29%), and manufacturing plants operating in Mexico (1.4%). By the time the New River crosses the U.S./Mexico border near Calexico, California, the channel contains a stew of about 100 contaminants: volatile organic compounds, heavy metals (including selenium, uranium, arsenic and mercury), and pesticides (including DDT) and PCBs. The waterway also holds the pathogens that cause tuberculosis, encephalitis, polio, cholera, hepatitis and typhoid; levels for many of these contaminants are in violation of United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Cal/EPA standards by several hundredfold.[2] Fecal coliform bacteria are at levels of 100,000 to 16 million colonies per milliliter at the border checkpoint (possibly more, as this is the measuring capacity threshold), far above the U.S.-Mexico treaty limit of 240 colonies.[3][4]
The combined effects of increasing, highly polluted inflow from the New River and agricultural runoff have resulted in elevated bacterial levels and large algal blooms in the Salton Sea. With the lack of an outlet, salinity has increased by approximately 1% per year. Due to high selenium levels, the public was strictly advised to limit fish consumption from the Salton Sea in 1986, after which any amount was likely a health risk. Increasing water temperature, salinity and bacterial levels led to massive fish die-offs (1992, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2006, 2008), and created the ideal breeding grounds for avian botulism, cholera and Newcastle disease, which also led to massive avian epizootics from 1992-2008. Currently, the Salton Sea has a salinity of 4.4% (4.4 parts per 100), making it saltier than ocean water (3.5% for Pacific), and many species of fish are no longer able to reproduce or survive in the Salton Sea. It is now believed the tilapia may be the only fish species able to persist there for a limited time. Without restoration actions, the sea will likely increase in toxicity, and remain an ecological trap for avian species. - Junkyarddawg, on 06/11/2009, -0/+3China, India and Indonesia win all these "most polluted" contests.
I mean, 350 000 tonnes of sewage per day in the river running through the capital? Pathetic. Come ON Argentina, you're not even trying!
And yeah, the US should have entered with Salton Sea Cesspool and the New River instead of the pitiful pollution of The Great Lakes. - Nebarik, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2why was my pool mentioned?
- mriojas, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2I specifically checked the comments to see if someone else thought it looked like a hamburger. Now I'm hungry.
- kamisama, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2Somehow we are going to have to stop doing this *****. There's probably a limit to what this planet can take, and I for one am not willing to find out where that limit is.
- pmpk, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2They omitted Newtown Creek between Brooklyn and Queens in New York City. Aside from raw sewage and industrial waste, the creek is the site of an underground oil spill that still spans 55 acres... 30 years after cleanup began.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtown_Creek
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenpoint_Oil_Spill - themastersb, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2That's what project Purity is for.
- lethal0r, on 06/11/2009, -0/+2wow is #3 really a river??
- Hellahulla, on 06/11/2009, -2/+4*****, looking at those rivers in China and that lake, makes me realise that Thames, Aire, Seine and Aura rivers are nowhere near as dirty as I once thought. That lake in China looks particularly nasty I have to admit.
- dstz, on 06/11/2009, -1/+3Asian countries are industrializing later than western countries, they will follow the same path toward normalization when they have attained a sufficient level of industrial development, and that it will become cost effective to counter the worst abuses. I don't understand how people don't get that simple fact. Take a look at Paris or London one century ago, not pretty.
- sanosuke001, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1I live near the lake, too. Saying that this brings awareness is crap, though. Everyone in this area knows how much we've raped that lake. There's also Onondaga Lake Park right on the lake. In the summer it does smell horrid. The crew team from my high school (and I'm assuming Syracuse University and other local schools. I went to Liverpool HS) practice and have meets in the lake. Friends I've known say they swim in the lake, too during practice. I'm surprised they don't have six toes...
- rmcconnell, on 06/11/2009, -1/+2The Great Lakes shouldn't be listed anywhere near some of these others. The work that has occurred on those treasures is amazing, and ongoing. You disrespect generations of environmental workers, regulators, scientists and engineers who have achieved unmatchable success here, and continue to be dedicated to their work. What this list should really do is make some skeptics who think things are so awful in the US in terms of water quality realize just where the true problems lie. At least we have people here who care, and are hard at work trying to bring even the Onandaga and Mississippi back to health.
- Foda, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1I actually live right next to the lake, and it's terribly gross. It smells like rotting trash in the hot summer weather. I guess that before the dumping began (thanks Honeywell for the awesome chemicals!) there used to be a amusement park on the lake. Hopefully someday we might be able to swim in it again...
- wastelander, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Check out some more photos here: http://images.google.com/images?q=Citarum+River
It is truly horrifying. - dan1230, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Eventually all bodies of water will be so polluted it will be hazardous to drink from.
- DentThat, on 06/11/2009, -2/+3haha. who the ***** dugg you down. *****
- inactive, on 06/11/2009, -4/+5China is filthy
- czhe, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Thanks for contributing.
- jkillsl, on 06/14/2009, -0/+1"Believe it or not, Lake Karachay (Russia) is completely contaminated with radioactive (and other types of) waste, that was dumped into the lake from the Mayak Nuclear Waste Storage Facility, starting in the 1950's. The waste is currently seeping out into area soils and rockbeds, threatening other rivers and even the Arctic. Scientists predict that if it makes it to the Arctic, it could spread around the world."
That is ***** scary. - wizzroom, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Well my problem with that explanation is that in those heydays there was no concept of environmental pollution or global warming. Today world governments are all aware of it and have all the data available to them of the detrimental effects human activity has on the health of this planet. The problem lies in misplaced priorities. Developing nations can attain a sufficient level of development without dumping ***** into the river and emitting toxic levels of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Companies don't want to invest in the technology and time to properly manage their waste and make their operation more 'eco-friendly'. The governments they exist under, first of all, don't give them any INCENTIVE to and secondly, do a poor job of policing existing laws.
Further, there is a lack of investment and interest in public education on very basic habits like littering and dumping chemicals. Hell some of these governments don't have the money to do that, while others are pouring all their money into one sector of society while totally ignoring another.
- Nephersir7, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1The thumbnail looks like a burger.
- mrpunman, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1Agreed on your second point because I live in Malaysia
- B1ackD0g, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1I live in Iowa City and I gotta tell you, with all the ag runoff in Iowa, I wouldn't eat any fish from any large river here. It's sad how that has changed since I was a kid. The farmers all say they are stewards of the land, but when push comes to shove, they have to feed their families, which means using chemicals to stay competative. I guess I can understand that priority, but it's still sad to see the toll it takes on the land and waterways here and downstream in the Mississippi.
My son and I fish at a place called Kent Park. It's small, but the originating drainage isn't from any farmland. The fish from the pond there are still okay to eat. - NoJobBob, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1I, too, live in Liverpool.
Aren't you guys proud of our hometown? - NoJobBob, on 06/12/2009, -0/+1I, too, live in Liverpool.
Aren't you guys proud of our hometown? - gizram84, on 06/11/2009, -0/+1i don't know why you are getting burried..
dugg for honesty - 1mean1, on 07/11/2009, -0/+0what do you personally intend to do?
Do you have any idea you could forward to the governments or group of people where you live? - DivineMonkey, on 06/11/2009, -1/+1Did anybody else think the thumbnail looked like a giant burger?
- namaku0, on 06/12/2009, -0/+0The pic is a river in Manila (Philippines) tough.
I saw it the other day on digg too.
EDIT: Mouse over the link below the description (Sea-way.org) - ShiftyBizniss, on 06/11/2009, -1/+1someone's hungry
- inactive, on 06/11/2009, -9/+2i've seen dirtier
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