2015 was the hottest year in recorded history — here are the photos to prove it
2016-01-23T22:11:00Z
2015 was the hottest year in recorded history. By far.
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For some, warmer temps offered a welcome chance to bask in the sun.
But the weather weirding also brought devastation in human lives and livehoods through droughts, fires, and deadly heat waves across the globe.
In 2015 the surface temperature of the Earth was about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the average global temperature of the entire 20th century.
Here are moments captured by Reuters photographers throughout the year, revealing how people all around the world coped with the changing climate.
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This skating rink in Manhattan didn't hold up as temps soared to the 70s over Christmas.
Since skating was out of the picture, these ladies took a boat ride in Central Park.
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A summer heatwave in Lebanon became unbearable.
The heat wave in Pakistan this June was unthinkable.
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The weather was so dangerous many died from heat stroke and dehydration.
As temperatures lingered at 111 degrees Fahrenheit for multiple days, over 1,100 people died.
Source: Reuters
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A bus driver was sprayed with a sprinkler to cool down in Jordan.
Some areas of the world were luckier. This slide at a swimming pool in Austria was an escape from the heat there in July.
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Many Germans took the opportunity to visit the beach in July.
These well-dressed British children took an ice cream break in June.
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These older ladies dipped their toes in a pool to cool off in Belgium.
In other areas of the world water became increasingly scarce because of drought, like this dried-up pond in China where locals tried to pump out anything that remained.
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Animals were impacted too. Look at this polar bear at a zoo in Germany trying to escape from the heat in July.
This brush fire broke out in India, and buffaloes ran to escape it.
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There used to be a river here in South Africa. The water source for these cows is now reduced to a pond.
India suffered back-to-back drought years. This farmer was removing dried plants from his land because reservoir levels just weren't high enough to water them.
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This family snoozed at a railway station in the heat in India this May.
Firefighters fought wildfires throughout the American west on and off all year, like this one in California in December.
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The smoke from the Valley Fire in California this September was too much for this horse.
The Rocky Fire in California burned almost 70,000 acres this summer.
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The Valley Fire completely destroyed homes, including Robert Hooper's, shown here.
Lake Powell, the source of water for Nevada, Arizona and California residents, reached new lows this year. The drought and overuse lowered its levels to only about 42% of its capacity.
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Almond trees withered in the California drought. The crop uses about 10% of the state's entire water reserves.
California's drought required a lot of water restriction. This public swimming pool in Burbank was empty in March.
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That led to a lot of unhappy golfers putting brown greens. Watering California golf courses was less important in a year plagued by drought, as seen in this aerial shot.
A drought caused the ground to crack it was so dry in the Cantareira reservoir in Brazil.
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Farming suffered in Australia, as well, as you can see in this aerial shot of farmland near Perth hit by drought.
Brazil had to ration water the drought there was so bad. This demonstrator held a bucket that says, "water yes" in Portuguese.
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Forest fires burned through Kiev, Ukraine in September, too. The heavy smog circling the capital city forced schools to close.
Source: UNIAN
While water was restricted in many drought-stricken areas, it offered a source of relief and joy to others, like these boys cooling off in Ahmedabad, India on a hot day in May.
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A girl swam in the River Ganges in India to cool off in May.
This wave pool in China might have been more relief from the heat if there weren't so many people.
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