10 of the world's great rivers 'at risk'

Ten of the world’s great rivers are at risk of drying out, the World Wildlife Fund said today.

The rivers are threatened by climate change, pollution, water withdrawal and poor management, the WWF said in a report released in New Delhi, India, ahead of World Water Day on Thursday.

“We want leaders to take notice of the emergency facing freshwater now, not later,” said Ravi Singh, head of WWF India.

The report was released in India because two of the rivers singled out, the Ganges and the Indus, run through the subcontinent.

WWF also discussed the Yangtze, Mekong and Salween rivers in Asia, the Danube in Europe, the La Plata and Rio Grande in the Americas, Australia’s Murray-Darling River and the Nile-Lake Victoria area in Africa.