 Oil spill in Gulf of Mexico On April 20, an explosion sank the British oil giant BP’s leased Deepwater Horizon rig on the southern Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers. During the ensuing five months, more than 4 million barrels of oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the worst oil spill in U.S. history and causing tremendous harm to the Gulf ecosystem.  Russian wildfires In July the hottest heat wave on record in Russia ignited widespread wildfires across the country’s peat marshes, filling the air with toxic fumes in a plume that could be seen from outer space, delaying flights, killing more than 50 and leaving 3,000 homeless.  Haiti earthquake On Jan. 12, Haiti was devastated by a 7.3-magnitude earthquake. The worst disaster in the country in over 200 years killed more than 200,000 people and seriously damaged the Caribbean nation’s infrastructure.  WikiLeaks causes stir The controversial public face of WikiLeaks, an international Web site that gives whistleblowers an anonymous way to publish sensitive documents, Julian Assange was accused of sexual assault by two women in Sweden in August following the Web site’s publishing of leaked documents on hundreds of topics, including more than 92,000 documents relating to the U.S. war in Afghanistan. He was arrested in London on Dec. 7 before being released on bail
 Chilean miners rescued On Aug. 5, a copper-gold mine in the northern desert of Chile collapsed, leaving 33 miners trapped some 700 meters underground, where they joined forces to survive until they were rescued. All 33 miners were lifted to the surface Oct. 13. No one had ever before survived after being trapped deep underground for so long.
 Cambodian stampede More than 450 people died in a stampede at Diamond Island bridge Nov. 22 at Cambodia’s Water Festival, which is the largest annual festival in the Southeast Asian nation. Around 2 million Cambodians, especially those from rural areas, converged the city to enjoy the festival.
 Iceland volcano erupts A volcano under the Eyjafjalla glacier in southern Iceland erupted April 14. The clouds of volcanic ash drifted eastward and southward into the airspace of many countries including Norway, Poland, Germany, France, Belgium, Britain and Russia, crippling air travel across Europe and causing chaos all over the world.  Strained situation on Korean Peninsula On Nov. 23, the DPRK and South Korea exchanged artillery fire on Yeonpyeong island near the disputed maritime border off the west coast, killing four South Koreans. From Nov. 28 to Dec. 1, South Korea and the United States staged large-scale military exercises in waters west of the Korean Peninsula.  Pakistan floods Flooding that began in Pakistan in July spread through August, washing out millions of acres of farmland. One-fifth of the country was underwater. The floods have taken the lives of around 2,000 people and left 6 million homeless.
 Hungarian toxic sludge spill Leaving eight people dead and 150 others injured and devastating the ecology of the region and waterways, toxic sludge spill in October was the most serious ecological catastrophe to hit Hungary.
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