This year has been an interesting one[1] for the environment. Heat waves[2] , winter storms, tornadoes[3] and typhoons[4] struck all corners of the globe. Baby pandas[5] stole our hearts, new animals were discovered hiding in plain sight and old pipelines spewed crude oil[6] into neighborhoods.


From the visceral to the adorable, 2013 has been one for the record books. Take a look at the photos below that chronicle some of the most memorable, and at times tragic, experiences we've faced this year.


Boston, Massachussettes

February 9, 2013


boston

A woman walks past the General John Glover statue in Boston, Mass. after Winter Storm Nemo dumped up to 3 feet of snow over parts of the Northeast. The storm knocked out power to 650,000 and dumped more than two feet of snow in parts of New England. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)


Mayflower, Arkansas

March 29, 2013


mayflower

Oil covers the ground around a slide in a neighborhood in Mayflower, Ark. days after a pipeline ruptured and spewed oil over lawns and roadways. Thousands of barrels spewed from the ruptured Pegasus pipeline, owned by ExxonMobil, forcing some residents to evacuate for months. (AP Photo/Jeannie Nuss)


El Reno, Oklahoma

June 1, 2013


el reno

Charlene Wilford helps load up items saved from a home damaged after a tornado hit El Reno, Okla. The tornado was the widest ever in recorded history, stretching to a width of 2.6 miles. It ripped through the area on May 31, 2013 killing at least nine people, injuring many others and destroying homes and buildings. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)


Olinguito Discovered

olin

This photo provided by Smithsonian shows an olinguito, a new species of carnivore discovered in South America. The olinguito (Bassaricyon neblina) had been mistakenly identified for more than 100 years and is the first carnivore species to be discovered in the American continents in 35 years. (Photo by Mark Gurney for Smithsonian via Getty Images)


Moore, Oklahoma

June 2, 2013


moore

An American flag flies from a car that sits in the driveway of a home that was damaged by a tornado in Moore, Okla. The devastating EF-5 tornado ripped through the town on May 20, killing 24 people, including 9 children, and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)


Yarnell, Arizona

July 1, 2013


realyarnell

Firefighters work near a wildfire burning along a ridge in Yarnell, Ariz., in this photo provided by the U.S. Forest Service. The lightning-sparked fire spread to at least 2,000 acres amid triple-digit temperatures, and overtook an elite group of hotshot firefighters, killing 19 members as they tried to protect themselves from the flames under fire-resistant shields. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service)


Suining, China

July 27, 2013


china

This picture, taken on July 27, 2013 shows hundreds of people trying to cool off at a waterpark in Suining, Southwest China's Sichuan province during a heatwave that pushed thermometers as high as 106 degrees Fahrenheit. The deadly temperatures lasted for weeks, creating the worst heatwave in at least 140 years. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)


Baby Panda Born At National Zoo, Washington D.C.

August 23, 2013


panda

In this photo provided by the Smithsonian's National Zoo, a member of the panda team at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo performs the first neonatal exam on a giant panda cub born Friday, Aug. 23, in Washington. The cub was named Bao Bao, which means "treasure" or "precious." (AP Photo/ Smithsonian's National Zoo, Courtney Janney)


Rim Fire, Yosemite National Park, California

August 25, 2013


yarnell

A firefighter watches for spot fires during a burnout operation while battling the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, Calif. The blaze, caused by a hunter's illegal fire, destroyed more than 30,000 acres of forest and become the third-largest in state history. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)


Boulder, Colorado Flooding

September 12, 2013


exxon

Sue Sadar walks across a trench of mud which used to be a lawn as she and family members clean property in an area inundated by flooding in Boulder County, Colo. A week of severe rains killed at least 8 people, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and caused upwards of $2 billion in damages. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)


Typhoon Haiyan, Tacloban, Philippines

November 2013


typhoon

A Filipino man walks in a puddle of water at a neighborhood ravaged by Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban. At least 6,000 people were killed by the storm, which was one of the strongest ever recoreded, and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced as it tore through the eastern Philippines on Nov. 8. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)



Also on HuffPost:




Loading Slideshow...



  • Kay James holds her cat as she sits in her driveway after her home was destroyed by the tornado that hit the area on Monday, May 20, 2013 in Oklahoma City, Okla. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Chris Landsberger)




  • Alli Christian, left, returns Jessica Wilkinson's dog Bella to her after finding the pet amid the wreckage of Wilkinson's home shortly after a tornado struck near 156th street and Franklin Road on Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Norman, Okla. No one was in the home when the storm struck. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Steve Sisney)




  • Kay Taylor stands with her dog Bailey in front of her house that was destroyed after the tornado that hit the area near 149th and Drexel on Monday, May 20, 2013 in Oklahoma City, Okla. (AP Photo/ The Oklahoman, Chris Landsberger)




  • Searchers working the Rancho Brazos neighborhood in Granbury , Texas, try to coax a mother dog to them while searching for unaccounted residents, Thursday, May 16, 2013. Ten tornadoes touched down in several small communities in North Texas overnight, leaving at least six people dead, dozens injured and hundreds homeless. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Mosley)




  • Homeowner Brad Smith carries an animal transport case after finding the family cat hiding in a closet on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 in Arlington, Texas. Preliminary findings indicate one of the tornadoes that struck North Texas had wind gusts ranging from 136 to 165 mph. As many as a dozen twisters touched down across Dallas-Fort Worth. Thousands remained without power Wednesday and hundreds of homes were severely damaged. Officials reported more than 20 injuries, but no deaths. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley)




  • Maeghan Hadley, of One Day Ranch pet rescue, checks over a kitten pulled from under the rubble of a mobile home destroyed by Sunday's tornado in the Steelman Estates Mobile Home Park, near Shawnee, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)




  • Lisa Copeland, right, and Kacie Rose carry a dog to a safe place before a second round of storms approaches Friday, March 2, 2012 in Ooltewah, Tenn. (AP Photo/Chattanooga Times Free Press, Angela Lewis)




  • Residents of Petal, Miss., walk their dog through a tornado damaged neighborhood Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013 following the Sunday afternoon tornado that caused damage throughout the community. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)




  • Betty Franke


    Betty Franke reacts as she looks to her damaged house with her cat in Marysville, Ind., Saturday, March 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)




  • This undated photo courtesy of the ASPCA/Mike Bizelli shows Virginia Anderson, 95, left, as she holds her cat Lucky while posing for a photograph with Tim Rickey, a Joplin native and senior director of the ASPCA's field investigations and response team, in Joplin, Mo. The tornado that slammed into Joplin, Mo., in May killed 160 people and thousands of pets. The ASPCA set up an emergency shelter next to the Joplin Humane Society and helped round up over 1,300 dogs and cats. In the month after the tornado, workers and volunteers reunited 500 of those pets with their owners, said Rickey. (AP Photo/ASPCA, Mike Bizelli)




  • In this photo taken Tuesday, June 14, 2011, kittens look out of their cage at a shelter in Joplin, Mo. More than three weeks after an EF5 tornado ripped through Joplin, nearly 900 dogs and cats remain sheltered at the Humane Society, most of them unlikely to ever be reunited with their owners. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)




  • In this June 14, 2011 file photo, rescued dogs sit in their kennels at a shelter in Joplin, Mo. after surviving an EF-5 tornado that ripped though the city three weeks earlier. Shelter and care for more than 1,300 pets left homeless by the twister accounted for $371,857 of the $500 million in taxpayer assistance provided after the costliest tornado on record. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)




  • In this photo taken Tuesday, June 14, 2011, volunteer Danielle Hanisee, from New Orleans, La. walks a dog past kennels at a shelter in Joplin, Mo. More than three weeks after an EF5 tornado ripped through Joplin, nearly 900 dogs and cats remain sheltered at the Humane Society, most of them unlikely to ever be reunited with their owners. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)




  • A Limestone Correctional Facility official said Friday he believes one of his bloodhound tracking dogs was swept up by the March 2, 2012 tornado that damaged the prison. Old Bubba, as the young bloodhound is named, is safe and sound with a broken jaw but otherwise unhurt. (AP Photo/Tuscaloosa News, Dana Beyerle)




  • In this photo taken Tuesday, June 14, 2011, Metta Butler, a volunteer veterinarian from Fayetteville, Ark. holds a sick dog at a shelter in Joplin, Mo. More than three weeks after an EF5 tornado ripped through Joplin, nearly 900 dogs and cats remain sheltered at the Humane Society, most of them unlikely to ever be reunited with their owners. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)




  • Sarah Gunter, 6, hugs one of her two dogs in front of the family's destroyed home at the Pinaire Mobile Home Park in Wichita, Kan., Monday, April 16, 2012. A tornado slammed the southeastern side of Wichita with winds of 136 to 165 mph, uprooting trees and damaging or destroying homes at the mobile home park Saturday night. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Jaime Green)




  • Alyssa Coleman, 8, carries her dog Blackie Chan through the debris of what was her home in the Hide-A-Way Mobile Home Park in Woodward, Okla., Monday, April 16, 2012. A tornado struck the town early Sunday morning. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Nate Billings)




  • In this photo taken Tuesday, June 14, 2011, a puppy looks out of its cage at a shelter in Joplin, Mo. More than three weeks after an EF5 tornado ripped through Joplin, nearly 900 dogs and cats remain sheltered at the Humane Society, most of them unlikely to ever be reunited with their owners. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)




  • In this photo taken Tuesday, June 14, 2011, kittens look out of their cage at a shelter in Joplin, Mo. More than three weeks after an EF5 tornado ripped through Joplin, nearly 900 dogs and cats remain sheltered at the Humane Society, most of them unlikely to ever be reunited with their owners. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)




  • In this photo taken Tuesday, June 14, 2011, a kitten looks out of its cage at a shelter in Joplin, Mo. More than three weeks after an EF5 tornado ripped through Joplin, nearly 900 dogs and cats remain sheltered at the Humane Society, most of them unlikely to ever be reunited with their owners. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)




  • James Litteral rescues his dog, Frisky, from his demolished mobile home on Noahtown Road south of Thomasville in east-central Davidson County, N.C. Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011 An American flag marked the spot Thursday where neighbors and authorities found the body of a 3-year-old girl killed when a suspected tornado struck Davidson County. (AP Photo/News & Record, H. Scott Hoffmann)




  • In this photo taken Tuesday, June 14, 2011, a kitten looks out of its cage at a shelter in Joplin, Mo. More than three weeks after an EF5 tornado ripped through Joplin, nearly 900 dogs and cats remain sheltered at the Humane Society, most of them unlikely to ever be reunited with their owners. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)




  • Pricilla, a terrier dog owned by Dot Peek of Hattiesburg, Miss., walks gingerly around buckets set up to catch rain water from the roof leaks caused by Sunday's tornado, Monday afternoon, Feb. 11, 2013. Peek's home and that of her daughter sustained severe property damage from the tornado, as did many others living in the college town and some surrounding areas. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)




  • Bobby Mann and pets his dog, Zoey, after inspecting the fence of their home, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012, that was toppled over by a tornado, that struck their neighborhood in Elk Grove, Calif., Monday. The pair had been in the outside when the tornado struck but were able to take cover inside the home without injury. Along with the damage to the fence, their home had part of it's roof damaged and several windows broken from the winds that reached speeds of between 90-100 mph. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)




  • In this photo taken Monday, May 7, 2012, Suzanne Falkner stands with her dog Ginger and her grandson Hunter Johnson, 7, outside the FEMA trailer she shares with her son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren in Webb City, Mo. Displaced by an EF-5 tornado that tore through the community nearly a year ago, the family was among 600 tornado victims housed by FEMA across 15 sites around Joplin. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)




  • In this June 14, 2011 file photo, rescued dogs sit in their kennels at a shelter in Joplin, Mo. after surviving an EF-5 tornado that ripped though the city three weeks earlier. Shelter and care for more than 1,300 pets left homeless by the twister accounted for $371,857 of the $500 million in taxpayer assistance provided after the costliest tornado on record. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)




  • In this April 23, 2012, photo, Freddie Wooten and his dog Max stand in front of the storm shelter he built at his own expense in Henager, Ala., following the 2011 tornado. When deadly twisters chewed through the Midwest and South in 2011, thousands of people in the killers' paths had nowhere to hide. Now many of those families are taking an unusual extra step to be ready next time: adding tornado shelters to their homes. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)




  • This April 3, 2012 photo provided by Trent Welch was posted on various social media sites after Welch and his family members found brindle boxer Oscar following a tornado in Forney, Texas. Juan Ventura Jr. held out little hope he would ever see his brindle boxer Oscar, that had been in the backyard when the devastating twister swept through Tuesday, leaving no sign of the pooch or his dog house. But he was reunited with the dog Thursday, April 5, after the family that found him posted his picture on social media sites and a third party made the connection between a media interview with Ventura and the boxer’s picture. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Trent Welch)




  • In this photo taken Tuesday, June 14, 2011, a kitten looks out of its cage at a shelter in Joplin, Mo. More than three weeks after an EF5 tornado ripped through Joplin, nearly 900 dogs and cats remain sheltered at the Humane Society, most of them unlikely to ever be reunited with their owners. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)




  • In this photo taken Tuesday, June 14, 2011, volunteer Erica Iwinski, from Walnut Creek, Calif, gets a lick from a rescued dog at a shelter in Joplin, Mo. More than three weeks after an EF5 tornado ripped through Joplin, nearly 900 dogs and cats remain sheltered at the Humane Society, most of them unlikely to ever be reunited with their owners. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)







References



  1. ^ an interesting one (www.huffingtonpost.com)

  2. ^ Heat waves (www.huffingtonpost.com)

  3. ^ tornadoes (www.huffingtonpost.com)

  4. ^ typhoons (www.huffingtonpost.com)

  5. ^ pandas (www.huffingtonpost.com)

  6. ^ old pipelines spewed crude oil (www.huffingtonpost.com)



0 comments:

Post a Comment

 
Top