2022's dramatic second half - 30th December 2022

With scorching summer temperatures across Europe in 2022, the UK recorded an all time high of 40 degrees Celsius. Parts of Portugal and France were transformed into raging infernos which forced thousands from their homes. On the Pacific coast of the US, millions of hectares of forests were consumed by wildfires.

Meanwhile, legislators in India outlawed some single-use plastics to curb plastic pollution. This provides a boost to local enterprises developing greener, biodegradable alternatives to plastic disposable food containers.

Rhea Mazumdar Singhal: 'We wanted to create a product that was safe for humanity to eat their food out of. By that I mean that it doesn't change the nutritional value of the food that you put in it. Secondly, it had to be safe for the environment. So it wasn't going to sit in a landfill and it's not going to outlive you forever.'

Women mechanics blazed new trails in Saudi Arabia in 2022, breaking into a career formerly restricted to men. Servicing cars like their male counterparts is one of the new opportunities for women as the country's government pushes to diversify the economy and end its reliance on oil production.

With girls' education restricted by the Taliban, secret schools have popped up in Afghanistan. Disguised as 'madrasas' or religious schools, they provide girls with some limited access to education.

In medicine, a groundbreaking new substance was trialled for identifying bacteria in vaccines. Tests using horseshoe crab blood have traditionally been the only means to safeguard sterile vaccine production. Surging demand for vaccines may help to secure its regulatory approval and respite for horseshoe crabs.

Another essential scientific development - ready to use therapeutic food - a peanut paste packed with calories and nutrients, saved hundreds of children's lives during Kenya's long drought and food shortage.

James Jarso: "If we run out of this, more deaths would be recorded very soon actually, very soon. We lost a child, I saw. We actually referred four of them to Marsabit County referral hospital. One died! We lost him. Three of them survived. So, this one is life saving. Without this, more children will die."

The passing of former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev marked the end of a political era in August. Then Queen Elizabeth II, the world's longest serving head of state, ended her 70 year reign peacefully at her Balmoral estate.

Pakistan suffered devastating floods which inundated a third of the country following a relentless deluge of exceptionally heavy monsoon rains. The tragic loss of well over 1,000 lives was only stemmed by the tireless rescue teams, while billions of dollars of damage and loss demonstrated the need for climate action.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: "Floods in Pakistan, drought and famine in the Greater Horn of Africa, and more frequent and intense cyclones in the Pacific and Caribbean all point to the urgent need for action against the existential threat of climate change."

Florida was also ravaged by yet another storm, Hurricane Ian, leaving residents torn between relocating or rebuilding, given the inevitable repercussions of the climate crisis.

Irene Giordano: "We have nowhere to go. I mean we could, we've, well I mean, we have places to go. But I, I just, you know, my mom's here - I just don't know. Don't have really any desire, in, in some ways, I - it's hard to say. It just, it just, it's just hard to describe."

World leaders convened in Egypt for COP27 to review progress on their climate commitments. However, in the wake of terrifying disasters, developing nations held a stronger hand, demanding a loss and damage fund to compensate for climate disasters, financed by developed nations with far higher greenhouse gas emissions.

Disha Ravi: "We are here today to ask world leaders to pay up for loss and damages in my country and other countries in the world that are on the frontline of the climate crisis, so we are here to ask today to show us the money."

2022 drew to an end with a war-torn Ukraine suffering energy shortages due to targeted Russian missile attacks. Forced to endure scheduled blackouts to manage limited energy production, musicians in Kyiv opened its abandoned concert halls to host concerts lit by LED candlelight, providing warmth, social contact and a glimpse of normality.