1. NASA declared 2017 Earth’s second-warmest year on record.

And here’s the surprising part: Last year had no El Niño, the shift in tropical Pacific weather patterns that contributed to record highs the previous two years. It was actually a La Niña year, the opposite phenomenon.

“This is the new normal,” a NASA official said. Above, a dam near Cape Town, which is experiencing a drought so severe that it could run out of water by April.