Migration, mega-fines and Barbie: records set in 2023
A woman cool off in a fountain on 9 de Julio avenue in Buenos Aires on March 8, 2023. Argentina is enduring this year's most torrid summer ever reported, with record temperatures and a lack of rainfall. This unprecedented weather scenario is damaging agriculture and keeping the country under red alert, according to reports from the National Meteorological Service (SMN). (Photo by Luis ROBAYO / AFP)
Sizzling temperatures, millions fleeing their homes, multitudes flocking to a movie about a doll — 2023 was another year of extremes.
AFP looks at 10 standout numbers:
The great displacement
The number of people around the world displaced by conflict or humanitarian crises was already at a record high before the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7, adding to the misery.
By the end of September, 114 million people had been driven from their homes by wars in Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo and a humanitarian crisis in Taliban-run Afghanistan, among other factors, according to UN refugee agency the UNHCR.
They have since been joined by at least 1.7 million Gazans.
Hot as hell
One heat record after another tumbled in 2023, which is on course to be the hottest year on record, according to the European Union's climate monitor Copernicus.