Today’s Image of the Day comes courtesy of the NASA Earth Observatory and features a look at the Qingcaosha freshwater reservoir in Shanghai. The photo was taken by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite.
The unprecedented pace of industrialization in Shanghai over the past several decades has caused severe pollution of the city’s waterways. According to a 2013 census report, only 3% of the water in the city is safe to drink.
As a result, the city opened Qingcaosha Reservoir on Changxing Island in 2010. The freshwater resource covers 27 square miles and supplies 70% of Shanghai’s tap water.
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By Rory Arnold, Earth.com
Source: NASA Earth Observatory