Research, Technology

Rivers and lakes of the planet that pose a danger to all living things

It's hard to believe, but there are up to4 billion rivers and about 100 million lakes. Such conclusions were made by scientists during the study of satellite images. For the most part, rivers and lakes are very picturesque places, it is a pleasure to relax on the banks of which. However, among them there are those that pose a danger to all living things. An example is the Ganges River, which is located in India. If you believe what is written in the holy book "Ramayana", this river is able to return people from the world of the dead, so the locals hold ritual burials on the banks of the river. Because of this, the water is teeming with dangerous bacteria and the river causes the death of thousands of people every year. There are other life-threatening bodies of water in the world - each of them is dangerous in its own way.

There are a huge number of rivers and lakes on Earth that pose a danger to all living things.

Content

  • 1 The Yangtze River is the dirtiest in China.
  • 2 Acidic river Rio Tinto in Spain
  • 3 Radioactive lake Karachay in Russia
  • 4 Danger of the Amazon River in South America
  • 5 Boiling Lake in the Dominican Republic

The Yangtze River is the dirtiest in China

The Yangtze is the third longest river in the world, afterAmazon and Nile. It crosses China from west to east and is one of the main sources of fresh water for many Chinese settlements. Once upon a time, the river was full of various animals and plants. However, over time, it has become heavily polluted, because waste from about 400 chemical plants is poured into it. It is also filled with harmful substances from oil refineries and steel mills. Finally, human waste is thrown into it, without any filtration.

This is how the Yangtze River looks like in most photos.

Due to severe pollution, the river does not harmonly to humans, but to all living things. In ancient times, the Yangtze was very deep and clean, but those days are behind us - now it is full of areas with water so dirty that there is not a single life there. Ecologists have been sounding the alarm for a long time and say that a little more, and the river will be impossible to save.

And this is how the Yangtze River looks like in other, less well-known pictures.

There is really a lot of garbage on the Yangtze River

See also: How does air pollution affect intelligence?

Acid River Rio Tinto in Spain

The river is located in the southwest of Spain.Rio Tinto is about 100 kilometers long. First of all, it frightens with the fact that it is painted red - the feeling that it is flowing somewhere in hell or the planet Mars. In addition, it frightens with its composition, because an unthinkable amount of metals coming from copper, gold and silver mines is dissolved in the water. Because of this, the level of acidity in the water goes off scale and few people can live in it. According to scientists, only extremophiles are found in the Rio Tinto - microscopic creatures that can live in the most severe conditions. For everyone else, local water is deadly.

Rio Tinto River

Another view of the Rio Tinto

Radioactive Lake Karachay in Russia

And what are we all about rivers, let's talk about lakes?In the Chelyabinsk region there is Lake Karachay, being near which several years ago led to death from radioactive exposure. And all because since 1951 it has been used to store radioactive waste from the Mayak production association. It goes without saying that there is not a single living organism in the local waters - you can’t even approach it. In 1986, it was decided to fill up the reservoir in order to somehow protect the environment. The work lasted until 2015, and today Lake Karachay is not as dangerous as it used to be. But it's still better not to approach him.

Lake Karachay

See also: What you need to know about radiation sickness

The danger of the Amazon River in South America

The Amazon River is considered the longest in the world.She has no special problems with mud - there are no chemicals in her waters and animals feel great in her. Perhaps this is the only place on our list that poses a danger exclusively to people. After all, if someone is unlucky, and he finds himself in the waters of the Amazon without a boat, he is unlikely to be able to get out of the river alive. This is because it is teeming with monsters like crocodiles, anacondas, piranhas and so on. Also in these waters lives the fish vandellia, which penetrates the genitals of people and eats them from the inside. Sounds just awful, doesn't it?

Amazon river

The Amazon River is teeming with dangerous creatures

Huge anaconda

fish vandellia

You will be interested: How pythons swallow people and large animals

Boiling Lake in the Dominican Republic

There is a national park in the Dominican RepublicMorne Trois Pitons, and in it - the boiling Lake Boiling. As the name suggests, the water in this lake is very hot. During dry periods, the water temperature in it reaches 92 degrees Celsius. It cools down to 10 degrees only during rainy periods, and this does not last long. Many accidents have occurred in this lake, as a result of which people received serious burns or even died. Because of this, even during periods of rain, swimming in these waters is strictly prohibited. The water in the lake is very hot due to the location of the lake next to the volcano.

Boiling Lake Boiling Photograph

Swimming in Boiling Lake is strictly prohibited.

In order not to miss the important news of science and technology, subscribe to our Zen channel.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that many rivers and lakes suffer from oil spills. You can read about the largest disasters of this kind in this material.