Shanghai submerged... but not really.

A picture of a deeply submerged Lujiazui has been making the rounds on various internet forums, and it's got Shanghai newspaper Xinmin pretty worked up. The picture shows several Pudong-side waterfront landmarks, including the iconic Pearl Tower, halfway sticking out of the water. The forum titles tend to show the photo with the title that the pictures are from a new study in the U.S. which purports that two thirds of delta regions around the world are at high risk of flooding - including Shanghai.

"But wait!" cried Xinmin. While Shanghai, being located on the Yangtze River Delta, is very susceptible to flooding, there is no study in the world that says it will be flooded to the degree shown in the picture. After a little research, Xinmin reporters determined that this picture was not part of the U.S. study.

Rather, it was nothing more than a sci-fi illustration from Beijing-based Focus Magazine (新知客), which admitted that it had not based the picture's water levels off of any real scientific evidence. Well phew? Thanks for preemptively quelling any panic we would've maybe had, Xinmin.