On the banks of the Darling, near Menindee, two grown men are fighting back tears.

The ongoing construction of an embankment on the Sandhya river in Barishal has sparked outrage among locals who believe the structure will damage the river crucial to their livelihoods.

The Dead Sea is shrinking at the rate of about a meter a year, leaving behind deserted beaches and sinkholes in a slow-motion environmental disaster.