This year was a bit of a hot mess. From natural disasters to wars, political violence to a shiny, viral baby hippo — photographers captured some of the year’s most extraordinary scenes.
January 14, 2024: Volcanic eruptions in Iceland
A January 14, 2024 image of a volcanic eruption on the outskirts of Grindavik, western Iceland shows billowing smoke and flowing lava. This was Iceland’s fifth volcanic eruption in two years; the previous one occurred on December 18, 2023 in the same region, southwest of the capital Reykjavik. Iceland is home to 33 active volcano systems, the highest number in Europe. (Photo by ICELANDIC DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL PROTECTION AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT/AFP via Getty Images)
January 30, 2024: Ukrainian military exercises
Ukrainian servicemen fire a 120 mm mortar during military exercises by assault units in the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv. (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
February 3, 2024: Massive fires sweep across central Chile
An aerial view shows the forest fire that swept the hills of the city of Viña del Mar in the Las Pataguas sector, Chile; the photo was taken on February 3, 2024. The region of Valparaoso and Viña del Mar, in central Chile, woke up on Saturday with a partial curfew to allow the movement of evacuees and the transfer of emergency equipment in the midst of a series of unprecedented fires, authorities reported. (Photo by JAVIER TORRES/AFP via Getty Images)
February 6, 2024: Tucker Carlson interviews Vladimir Putin in Moscow
In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state news agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin gives an interview to U.S. right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson at the Kremlin in Moscow on February 6, 2024. (Photo by GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
February 16, 2024: Mourners gather after the death of Alexei Navalny
People gather at a makeshift memorial for late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, organized at the monument to the victims of political repressions in Saint Petersburg on February 16, 2024, following Navalny’s death in an Arctic prison. (Photo by OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images)
March 4, 2024: Texas experiences its largest wildfire
An aerial view shows cattle grazing on small islands of hay surrounded by pastureland burned by the Smokehouse Creek fire on March 4, 2024 near Canadian, Texas. The fire has burned more than a million acres in the Texas Panhandle, killing at least two people and destroying more than 500 structures. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
March 26, 2024: Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore collapses after being truck by container ship
In this aerial image, the steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sits on top of a container ship after the bridge collapsed outside Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. The bridge collapsed early that day after being struck by the Singapore-flagged Dali container ship, sending multiple vehicles and people plunging into the frigid harbor below. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
April 5, 2024: 7.5 magnitude earthquake hits Taiwan
People gather to see a partially collapsed building on April 5, 2024 in Hualien, Taiwan. Hundreds of victims were trapped in the mountains after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Taiwan on April 3rd, triggering a tsunami warning for coastal Taiwan, The Philippines and Japan. (Photo by Annabelle Chih/Getty Images)
April 18, 2024: Donald trump sits for his criminal trial in New York City
Donald Trump arrives with his legal team during jury selection at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 18, 2024 in New York City. Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records last year, and was found guilty in June. He was the first president to face trial on criminal charges. (Photo by Jabin Botsford-Pool/Getty Images)
April 23, 2024: Pro-Palistinian encampment at Columbia University
A man walks past Israeli and U.S. flags alongside portraits of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas in front of the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University in New York on April 23, 2024. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
April 23, 2024: People rush to humanitarian aid packages dropped in Northern Gaza
People rush toward landing humanitarian aid packages that were dropped over the northern Gaza Strip on April 23, 2024. (Photo by OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)
May 6, 2024: Flooding in Brazil
Locals move in boats following flooding due to heavy rains in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil on May 6, 2024. (Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP via Getty Images)
May 9, 2024: Flooding in Kenya
A woman wades through flood waters at an inundated residential area in Garissa, Kenya, on May 9, 2024. Kenya was grappling with one of the worst floods in its recent history, the latest in a string of weather catastrophes, following weeks of extreme rainfall scientists have linked to a changing climate. At least hundreds of people were killed and more than 55,000 households were displaced as murky waters submerged entire villages, destroyed roads and inundated dams. (Photo by LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images)
May 21, 2024: Grvaes of Ukrainian soldiers who died fighting in the Ukraine-Russia war
An aerial view of the graves of Ukrainian soldiers who died during the Ukraine-Russia War in the 18th cemetery on May 21, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)
May 22, 2024: Residents go through damage from a tornado in Iowa
Residents go through the damage after a tornado tore through Greenfield, Iowa. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
April 20, 2024: Paris hosts the Olympic games
France’s paralympic triple jumper Arnaud Assoumani poses in front of The Louvre Pyramid, designed by I. M. Pei, in Paris on April 20, 2024, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic games. The Louvre was originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century, became one of the main residences of the kings of France later and is one of the largest museum in the world. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
July 1, 2024: Steve Bannon reports to prison in Connecticut
Steve Bannon, the former Donald Trump White House strategist, addresses the media at the Federal Correctional Institution Danbury as he began his four-month sentence on July 1, 2024. Bannon was held in contempt of Congress, his conviction for not complying with subpoenas from the House Select Committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Bannon attempted to avoid reporting to prison while challenging his conviction before the federal appeals court in Washington, DC but was denied by the Supreme Court. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
July 13, 2024: The assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Pennsylvania
Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. The gunman and a bystander were killed and two spectators critically injured. (Photo by REBECCA DROKE/AFP via Getty Images)
July 29, 2024: The olympic surfing competition held in Tahiti
Brazil’s Gabriel Medina reacts after getting a large wave in the 5th heat of the men’s surfing round 3 during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Teahupo’o, on the French Polynesian Island of Tahiti, on July 29, 2024. (Photo by JEROME BROUILLET/AFP via Getty Images)
August 12, 2024: Wildfires near Athens, Greece
Smoke rises over Parthenon temple during a wildfire near Athens, Greece, on August 12, 2024. (Photo by Costas Baltas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
September 15, 2024: The pygmy hippo Moo Deng becomes internet sensation
Moo Deng, a two-month-old female pygmy hippo who has became a viral internet sensation, is showered by a zookeeper at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province on September 15, 2024. (Photo by LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images)
September 26, 2024: Hurricane Helene hits Cuba, causing flooding
A man rides a handmade raft through a flooded street in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on September 26, 2024, following the passage of Hurricane Helene. H(Photo by YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images)
October 1, 2024: Former President Jimmy Carter turns 100
People attend the Plains Peanut Festival on September 28, 2024 in Plains, Georgia. Plains is the hometown of Former President Carter, who died in December. October 1, 2024 was his 100th Birthday. (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)
October 2, 2024: We start to see the full scope of damage to North carolina brought by Hurriacne Helen
An aerial view shows flood damage along the Swannanoa River in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on October 2, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina. President Joe Biden took an aerial tour of the devastated region and ordered the deployment of 1,000 active-duty U.S. soldiers to assist with storm relief efforts and reinforce the North Carolina National Guard. At least 160 people were killed in six states in the wake of the powerful hurricane, which made landfall as a Category 4. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
October 5, 2024: Elon Musk starts campaigning with Donald Trump
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (R) jumps on stage as he joins former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the site of his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on October 5, 2024. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
October 4th, 2024: The Nova festival siet and memorial as we approach one year of conflict after the October 7th attack on Israel
An aerial view shows people visiting the Nova Festival memorial site on October 04, 2024 in Re’im, Israel. Over the last few months the grounds around Re’im Park have been turned into a memorial for the victims and hostages from the Nova Music Festival, which was attacked by Hamas on the morning of October 7th. The site has been expanded to include stories of the victims, including first responders, police, and military, with other large personalized memorials. On October 7, 2023, members of Hamas mounted a series of attacks and raids on Israeli citizens in the Gaza Envelope border area of Israel. 251 Israelis and foreigners were kidnapped and 1139 people were killed. More than 100 are still unaccounted for. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
October 6, 2024: Israel conducts airstrikes on Lebanon
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs late on October 6, 2024. Official Lebanese media reported four Israeli strikes on south Beirut on October 6, shortly after calls by Israel’s army for residents to evacuate the Hezbollah stronghold, which had been bombarded for several days. (Photo by FABIO BUCCIARELLI/AFP via Getty Images)
October 7, 2024: Ruins in Gaza City on the anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel
Palestinians walk on a dirt road lined with building rubble in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City on October 7, 2024, on the first anniversary of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)
October 13, 2024: SpaceX sucessfully returns Starship megarocket to launchpad after test flight
Starship’s Super Heavy Booster is grappled at the launch pad in Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on October 13, 2024, during the Starship Flight 5 test. SpaceX successfully “caught” the first-stage booster of its Starship megarocket as it returned to the launch pad after a test flight, a world-first in the company’s quest for rapid reusability. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)
October 20, 2024: Donald Trump campaigns at a McDonald’s
Donald Trump works behind the counter during a campaign event at a McDonald’s on October 20, 2024 in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)
October 30, 2024: Flash floods in Spain’s Valencia region
Cars are piled in the street with other debris after flash floods hit the Sedaví area of Valencia, Spain. Spanish authorities said that more than 200 people died after flash-flooding followed heavy rain. Spain’s meteorological agency had issued its highest alert for the region due to the extreme rainfall. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
November 13, 2024: Destruction in Beirut amid Israel’s invasion
A man uses his mobile phone to take photos as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike targeting a neighborhood in southern Beirut on November 13, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)
November 22, 2024: The most destructive fire in a decade hits Camarillo, California
An aerial view of a home destroyed in the Mountain Fire on November 22, 2024 in Camarillo, California. The Mountain Fire ignited amid powerful winds on November 6, and destroyed more than 200 buildings, many of them homes. The nearly 20,000-acre fire was the third most destructive wildfire to occur in Southern California in at least ten years. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
December 16, 2024: After more than 1,000 days of war in Ukraine, Russia ramps up renewed bombing effort
An exterior view of a residential building damaged by shelling on December 16, 2024 in Pokrovsk, Ukraine. In July 2024, Russia renewed efforts to reach and capture Pokrovsk in a new offensive. Residents of Pokrovsk are living without light, gas and water. Medical institutions and social facilities have been evacuated in the city, bank branches, gas stations, pharmacies and most stores have closed. The front line is approaching the city. (Photo by Vladyslav Ukolov/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC “UA:PBC”/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
December 19, 2024: Luigi Mangione, suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO, arrives in NYC
Luigi Mangione, suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, arrives at a heliport with members of the NYPD on December 19, 2024 in New York City. The 26-year-old was arrested in Pennsylvania on December 9 after being spotted at a McDonald’s in Altoona amid a national manhunt. Mangione also appeared in a Pennsylvania court on forgery and firearms charges, where he waived extradition to New York after being indicted on 11 charges including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
