PARIS — From roasting temperatures to rocketing power costs and tens of millions of refugees fleeing Ukraine, 2022 was a 12 months of extremes.
AFP appears to be like again at a number of the data smashed:
Food and power costs
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February triggered a large soar in power and meals prices, with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Price Index hitting a historic peak and the price of fuel in Europe reaching document highs.
The eurozone annual inflation climbed steadily to 10.6 p.c in October, the most important enhance because the index started in 1997. It then slowed in November for the primary time in a 12 months and a half.
Refugees
The warfare additionally triggered the most important wave of refugees in Europe because the finish of World War II. More than 7 million Ukrainians fled to different European international locations and an additional 6.9 million have been displaced internally, in response to the UN refugee company UNHCR.
Globally, the variety of displaced folks exceeded 100 million for the primary time.
Burning up
Europe sweated by its hottest summer season on document, with data tumbling in lots of international locations, together with England the place the mercury topped 40 levels Celsius (104 levels Fahrenheit) for the primary time.
Forest fires linked to the warmer, drier circumstances additionally scorched extra land than ever earlier than in Europe—over 600,000 hectares—and dried up rivers.
Hail of missiles
North Korea fired a document variety of missiles into the Sea of Japan in response to large-scale joint army workouts staged by South Korea and the United States.
A very intense peak noticed 23 missiles fired in 24 hours on November 2.
Farewell Queen
After 70 years on the throne, Britain’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, handed away on September 8, aged 96.
Before her huge state funeral, an estimated quarter of one million folks queued around the clock to view the coffin because it lay in state.
Musk mayhem
It was an enormous 12 months for Elon Musk, though he ended it being knocked off his perch because the world’s richest man on Forbes’ billionaire listing by French businessman Bernard Arnault of worldwide luxurious empire LVMH.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX added Twitter to his portfolio for $44 billion in October and swiftly triggered controversy by firing half the employees and lifting bans of people that had been thrown off the platform, together with Donald Trump.
In December Musk stated he would resign as chief govt as soon as he discovered a substitute, in obvious response to a ballot he launched that advised customers needed him to step down.
New inventive heights
The artwork assortment of Microsoft’s co-founder Paul Allen, which included works by Cezanne, Klimt and Van Gogh, was bought by Christie’s for $1.62 billion, the most important quantity ever for an artwork public sale.
Marilyn Monroe was an enormous hitter too, with certainly one of her picture portraits by Andy Warhol promoting for $195 million, making it the costliest twentieth century art work.
Tennis titans
When Rafael Nadal received the French Open for the 14th time, the Spanish ace raised his personal document of Grand Slam titles to 22, forward of Novak Djokovic (21) and Roger Federer (20).
It was additionally a 12 months of farewells with two of the game’s best gamers calling time on their glittering careers: Federer and Serena Williams, who has 23 Grand Slams to her identify.
Jet-setting Swift
The tenth album by the US megastar, “Midnights,” triggered such a frenzy that Spotify broke down as extra followers sought to take heed to it over a single day than some other album.
Ten of its tracks have been listed within the prime ten Billboard Hot 100, additionally a primary.
Less wonderful for Swift was her topping the listing for the “worst private jet CO2 emission offenders” amongst celebrities for her in depth non-public jet use.
In August when she was awarded the unenviable prize, she had already clocked up 170 flights in her non-public jet.
Eight billion people
In November the world’s inhabitants—which numbered 2.5 billion in 1950—exceeded eight billion, in response to the UN. — AFP
