While doing some research about the River Thames for the Storymap project, I learned that it is named as one of the cleanest rivers in all of Europe. However, about 70 years ago, it was considered to be a lost cause due to the World War II bombings. Methane gas was able to seep into the river and the toxins were even able to destroy the propellers off boats. England was able to get its act together to clean up the river through the next couple of decades.
Really interesting to see how a country realized the importance of their river and managed to clean it and restore it to its original beauty! I’m interested in learning about how the methane gas got into the river and will do some research on this. Hopefully America can do the same and clean up our rivers and other nature areas.
That’s crazy that they were able to keep the river clean after the terrible effects of war.