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.

More info: cfr.org | theguardian.com | businessinsider.com.au (h/t: boredpanda)