I care about the environment. At least I think I do. But several years ago, I realized that for all my supposed interest, I'd never really seen an environmental problem with my own eyes.

Spurred on by this embarrassing fact, I set out on a grand tour to see (and touch and smell and taste) the world's most degraded, despoiled, and ruined environments. Thus was pollution tourism born: a new kind of travel for the environmentally-minded adventurer.

Once you start thinking like a pollution tourist, though, the world becomes something of a candy store. The unfortunate possibilities are endless.

Here, then, is my itinerary: the most polluted—or most interestingly polluted—destinations in the world. Dive in for excerpts, information, maps, pictures, and more.

Chernobyl
Fort McMurray
Port Arthur
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The Amazon Rainforest
Guiyu & Linfen
Yamuna River