By Mark Healy and Shane Flavin

The Yangtze River The Yangtze river runs along China and is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. The river is so polluted that over 100 lakes were cut off from it. Many animals native to the Yangtze river are close to extinction due to the rivers effects. Some of the animals close to extinction are the Yangtze river dolphin, the finned porpoise, the baiji and many more.

Yangtze Pollution image

Causes of Pollution in Yangtze Over the past 50 years there has been a 73% increase in pollution levels along the Yangtze The annual discharge of sewage and industrial waste is up to 25 billion tons which is 42% of the sewage and 45% of the industrial waste in the country.. The river contains blood flukes which cause schistsomiasis. Health in areas around the Yangtze is very poor with intestinal diseases such as Hepatitis A and Dysentery incidence rates 50% higher than the national average.

The Ganges The Ganges river runs along India and is one of the, if not the most polluted river in the world. The river has 3,000 times more bacteria than the limit suggested by the WHO. More than 420 million people rely on the Ganges for washing their clothes and bathing themselves in. Thousands of dead bodies are cremated in the Ganges annually and some are often released down the river as well. Hundreds of unwanted or ‘illegitimate’ babies, cattle and other animal carcases are also dumped in the river.

Ganges Pollution image

Causes of Pollution in Ganges The main cause of pollution in the Ganges is the dumping sewage and industrial waste. Approximately 1 billion litres of raw, untreated sewage is dumped in the river on a daily basis. The levels of Coliform bacteria in the river is over 2,800 times the level considered safe by the WHO.

Pollution in Cork More than 20% of the river in Cork are polluted. Approximately 94 out of 492 water bodies are ‘less than satisfactory’. Hundreds of trout in the Bandon river were killed by pollution. The river Blackwater has been discharged with sewage recently. According to reports there were 263 complaints about illegal dumping last year alone.

River Pollution (Cork) image

WARNING! If we don’t stop dumping, Cork’s rivers may become as polluted as the Yangtze or Ganges rivers!