Shocking Photos Show Just How Polluted China's Water Has Become

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REUTERS/Stringer

A man looks at a contaminated river in Cangnan county of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province July 24, 2014.

If you woke up tomorrow and suddenly discovered that your local river had turned blood red and that a awful, caustic smell had permeated your air, you would be pretty alarmed, right? For residents of Wenzhou, China, and millions like them in China's rapidly industrializing and growing cities and towns, it's just par for the course.

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Officials in Wenzhou are still trying to find the cause of the water and air pollution, but Yixiu Wu, who tracks water pollution issues for Greenpeace, told Voice of America, "I think the water pollution problem, it's no longer a remote problem, only in the countryside," he said. "It's affecting everyone. Even people in the cities."