Uncharted Waters: In photos this week

The world never ceases to rouse us. These photos—doused in floodwaters, drowned by microplastic—resonate beyond their description for a leisurely flip or a deep read this week

By Madhu Kapparath

Published: Apr 24, 2024 06:13:55 PM IST

Updated: Apr 24, 2024 06:28:48 PM IST

Image: Dave Chan / AFP

"Giant Plastic Tap," a sculpture by Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong, was displayed outside the fourth session of the UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution in Ottawa, Canada, on April 23, 2024. A recent study conducted by Columbia University revealed an alarming spectrum of 1.1-3.7 lakh plastic fragments per litre of bottled water, primarily comprising 90 percent nanoplastics and 10 percent microplastics.

Image: MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men gather to collect clear water from a mountain spring near Jerusalem for use in baking unleavened bread, known as Matzoth, on April 21, 2024, a day ahead of the start of the 8-day Pesach (Passover) holiday. According to Jewish tradition, Pesach commemorates the Israelites' exodus from slavery in Egypt and their plight by refraining from eating leavened food products.

Image: Tingshu Wang / Reuters

A drone view shows roads submerged in floodwaters following heavy rainfall in Qingyuan, Guangdong province, China, on April 22, 2024. The province, once dubbed the "factory floor of the world", has been battered by unusually heavy and widespread rainfall. Powerful storms usher in an earlier-than-normal start to the province's annual flooding season in May and June, which scientists attributed to climate change.

Image: Biju BORO / AFP

An election officer carrying an Electronic voting machine disembarks a boat en route to a polling station at Lohore Chapori in Golaghat district, Assam, on April 18, 2024, on the eve of phase one of India's general election. Nearly a billion Indians will vote to elect a new government in the six-week-long parliamentary polls that started on April 19.

Image: Amr Alfiky / Reuters

Residents move their belongings on a kayak at a flooded residential complex following heavy rainfall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 18, 2024. The ordinarily desert country was pummeled with roughly a year's worth of rain in less than a day, more than it has ever seen in a single storm since records for the UAE began in 1949.

Image: George Chan/SOPA /LightRocket via Getty Images

Solo rower Terence Steinberg opens a can of beer after he arrives in Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia, on April 23, 2024. Terence set the world record for solo rowing 5000 miles across the Pacific Ocean, from Hawaii to Australia, in 126 days. Under the "United World Challenge," the expedition aimed to raise funds and awareness for the ocean plastic crisis.

Image: Mohammad Ponir Hossain / Reuters

A man douses his head under a gushing water tanker amidst a week-long heatwave in the Gulistan area in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 22, 2024. Thousands of Bangladeshis gathered to pray for rain in the middle of an extreme heatwave that prompted authorities to shut down schools nationwide.

Image: Jesus Merida/SOPA/LightRocket via Getty Images

Two pink flamingos forage at Fuente de Piedra Lake in Malaga, Spain, on April 20, 2024. The recent rains in the province of Málaga have allowed the water level of the lagoon to rise and the arrival of thousands of flamingos to begin their breeding cycle.

Image: AFP

Palestinian children play on a beach in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 17, 2024. The hot weather drew hundreds of Gazans to the beach, who found a rare respite from more than six months of traumatising Israeli bombardments in the Palestinian territory, though the worry of bombing was never far from elders' watchful eyes

Image: GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP

A mural by artist Maurizio Cattelan is seen outside Giudecca Women's Prison, which is hosting the Holy See (Vatican) pavilion, during the pre-opening of the 60th Venice Biennale art show on April 18, 2024, in Venice, Italy. The mural evokes the religious rite of foot washing practised by priests to represent Christ's selfless love. The Pope allowed the washing of women's feet in 2016.

Image: Tchandrou Nitanga / AFP

A man carries his precious belongings on a bicycle through water following flash floods in Gatumba village, Burundi, on April 19, 2024. The government of Burundi and the United Nations have launched an appeal for financial aid to cope with the "devastating effects" of months of relentless rainfall that have displaced nearly 100,000 people.

Image: Manolis LAGOUTARIS / AFP

This photograph taken on April 17, 2024, shows newly remade tombs of migrants who were buried here, drowned while trying to cross over to Europe in the hazardous Aegean Sea, near Kato Tritos village on the island of Lesbos, Greece. For years, Lesbos has been a significant destination for migrants, leaving Turkish shores crammed into tiny, unseaworthy vessels provided by smuggling gangs.

Image: Ronny Adolof BUOL / AFP

Mount Ruang, a stratovolcano in North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, erupted on April 19, 2024, forcing thousands to evacuate when molten rocks rained down on their villages. The Indonesian archipelago is prone to volcanic activity because it sits along the 'Ring of Fire', a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean, causing active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.