Photos: Last 12 months on Earth were the hottest ever recorded

Wildfire advances near the eastern town of Palma de Gandia in Valencia, Spain, Nov. 3, 2023. | The last 12 months were the hottest Earth has ever recorded, according to a new report by Climate Central, a nonprofit science research group. The peer-reviewed report says burning gasoline, coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels that release planet-warming gases like carbon dioxide , and other human activities, caused the unnatural warming from November 2022 to October 2023.

People walk along the Seine River, in Paris, Oct. 2, 2023. | Over the course of the year, 7.3 billion people, or 90% of humanity, endured at least 10 days of high temperatures that were made at least three times more likely because of climate change.

The average global temperature was 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the pre-industrial climate, which scientists say is close to the limit countries agreed not to go over in the Paris Agreement — a 1.5 C (2.7 F) rise. The impacts were apparent as one in four humans, or 1.9 billion people, suffered from dangerous heat waves.

A World Youth Day volunteer uses a small fan to cool off from the intense heat, Lisbon, Aug. 6, 2023. | Here's how a few regions were affected by the extreme heat:

1. Extreme heat fueled destructive rainfall because a warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor, which lets storms release more precipitation. Storm Daniel became Africa’s deadliest storm with an estimated death toll that ranges between 4,000 and 11,000, according to officials and aid agencies. Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey also saw damages and fatalities from Storm Daniel.

2. In India, 1.2 billion people, or 86% of the population, experienced at least 30 days of elevated temperatures, made at least three times more likely by climate change.

3. Drought in Brazil's Amazon region caused rivers to dry to historic lows , cutting people off from food and fresh water.

4. At least 383 people died in U.S. extreme weather events, with 93 deaths related to the Maui wildfire event , the deadliest U.S. fire of the century.

5. One of every 200 people in Canada evacuated their home due to wildfires, which burn longer and more intensely after long periods of heat dry out the land. Canadian fires sent smoke billowing across much of North America.

6. On average, Jamaica experienced high temperatures made four times more likely by climate change during the last 12 months, making it the country where climate change was most powerfully at work.