Workers put a dead crane into a bag at the Hula Lake conservation area in northern Israel on Jan. 2. A bird flu outbreak killed thousands of migratory cranes in what authorities say is the deadliest wildlife disaster in the nation’s history. Photo: Ariel Schalit/VCG

Sand from the Sahara sweeps across the snow-covered slopes of the Piau-Engaly ski resort in southern France on March 15. A dust storm from the Sahara Desert blanketed European city skies that month. Photo: Bastien Arberet/VCG

Firefighters work to tame a wildfire in Pumarejo de Tera near Zamora in northern Spain, on June 18. That month, a temperature of 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) triggered multiple fires across the country, one of which engulfed nearly 20,000 hectares of land. Photo: VCG

Insulating foam covers a segment of the Rhone Glacier in the Swiss Alps to prevent it from melting next to its glacial lake on July 8. Swiss glaciers lost 6% of their remaining volume this year, the worst melt rate on record, according to monitoring body GLAMOS. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/VCG

A man collects recyclable materials in the polluted Yamuna River in New Delhi on July 5. The river is considered one of the most polluted in the world owing to the high surrounding population density and industrialization. Photo: Sajjad Hussain/VCG

A sunk German battleship from World War II breaks the surface of the Danube River in Serbia after a severe drought hit most of Europe over the summer. Photo: Darko Vojinovic/VCG

The wind whips embers from a burning tree during a wildfire in California, the U.S., on Sept. 6. California experienced some 7,490 fires this year, down from last year. Photo: Ringo H.W. Chiu/VCG

From June to October, unprecedented monsoon rains caused deadly flooding in Pakistan, killing over 1,500 and affecting millions of people. Photo: Fareed Khan/VCG

A 6.9-magnitude earthquake rattled Taiwan’s Hualien county on Sept. 18, collapsing public facilities and causing power outages for thousands of households. One person died and over 140 were injured. Photo: VCG

Somali people inspect a settlement covered by sand on Oct. 23 as inhabitants struggle with the sandstorm at Kolob town in Puntland, Somalia. Millions of people in the Horn of Africa are experiencing the longest and most severe drought on record. Photo: Abukar Mohamed Muhudin/VCG

On Sept. 28, Swedish authorities observed a leak in the Nord Stream 2, a 1,234-kilometer (767-mile) natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. The war between Russia and Ukraine has led to both the loss of human lives and environmental destruction. Photo: VCG

Genwanghu Lake in Nanning, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, dried up on Oct. 30. A record-breaking drought hit the Yangtze River basin in the summer, drying up rivers and disrupting the country’s economy. Photo: VCG

Located in Hawaii, the Mauna Loa Volcano, known as the world’s largest active volcano, erupted in November for the first time in almost 40 years. Photo: Andrew Richard Hara/VCG

Snow and ice cover a house on Monday in Buffalo, New York. North America has been hit by a winter storm, leaving at least 60 dead across the U.S. Photo: Fatih Aktas/VCG