2019: Climate protests take center stage as the world burns

After lengthy talks, a government-appointed commission announces Germany plans to stop producing energy from coal-fired plants by 2038. Climate campaigners say it's too little, too late. Germany currently generates nearly 40% of its electricity from coal and has failed to meet targets set under the 2015 Paris climate agreement. The anticipated phaseout cost: €40 billion ($44 billion).

After a five-year study, scientists warn two-thirds of glaciers in the Hindu-Kush-Himalayan region could melt by 2100 if global carbon emissions are not cut. Meltwater from the area, home to Mount Everest, feeds into 10 of the world's most important river systems. Water shortages would cripple food and energy production in eight countries, directly or indirectly affecting nearly 2 billion people.

"One of the deadliest storms on record in the Southern Hemisphere" — according to the UN — hits low-lying Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, killing nearly 1,000 people and causing widespread damage. Vast swaths of farmland are flooded, bringing disease and food shortages. Six weeks later, another cyclone strikes. Some 62 million people were affected by extreme weather in 2018, says the WMO.

Extinction Rebellion causes more than a week of travel chaos in London with disruptive, colorful protests across the British capital. In the UK and around the world, the activist group's rallies make headlines throughout the year as they promote radical political, economic and social change to avert the worst effects of global warming. Critics call their plans to abandon fossil fuels unrealistic.

At the EU elections, voter turnout is up — and populist and environmentalist parties make big gains. European Green parties win 74 seats in the 751-member European Parliament. The German Greens take more than 20% of the vote, their best-ever results. Frans Timmermans is chosen as the European Commission's new climate chief, with the bloc aiming to cut carbon emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

Thousands of protesters descend on Garzweiler, one of Germany's biggest open-pit coal mines near Cologne, protesting plans to expand at the expense of nearby old-growth forest. Meanwhile, an estimated 40,000 people from across Europe march through Aachen to campaign for more climate action. Over the Channel, the UK parliament becomes the first in the world to declare a symbolic climate emergency.

Much of Europe suffers through an intense heat wave, with temperatures breaking 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) across the continent — smashing records set just weeks earlier. People are advised to limit time spent outdoors, while travelers face delays due to speed restrictions on superheated railway tracks. Climate monitoring agencies report July as the hottest month on record.

The number of forest fires in the Amazon surges to its highest point since 2010, and thousands of firefighters are deployed to put out the blaze. President Jair Bolsonaro blasts a global outcry that not enough is being done to protect the world's largest tropical rainforest, insisting on Brazil's sovereign right. Previously, he blamed rainforest protections for hindering economic development.

Teen activist Greta Thunberg, who inspired Fridays for Future protests worldwide, blasts world leaders at the United Nations for "failing to act" on the climate crisis. "Change is coming, whether you like it or not." As millions of young people join marches around the world, leaders from more than 70 countries commit to carbon neutrality by 2050 — but not China, Russia, India, Japan or China.

Local groups, cities and young people around the world increasingly take their climate concerns to court in 2019. Just this month: a group of 15 youths (above) sues the Canadian government for violating their fundamental rights with policies that fail to curb CO2 emissions. Over in Germany, a court rejects a lawsuit by three farming families against Berlin's failed climate mitigation efforts.

Venice is hit by exceptional floods, with water levels topping 1.5 meters (nearly 5 feet) three times in one week — the worst flooding since records began in 1872. Famed monuments and museums, including St. Mark's Basilica and the crypt, are inundated. Undeterred tourists, however, continue to snap selfies. Meanwhile, Oxford English Dictionary names "climate emergency" its word of the year.

As world leaders meet in Madrid for the COP25 climate conference, the head of the UN says the world is rapidly approaching the "point of no return." An EU report says the environmental situation has worsened, with the bloc likely to miss 2030 carbon reduction targets. Reacting to climate concerns, the European Parliament declares a "climate emergency" and the EU Commission lays out its Green Deal.