2011 was a total annus horribilis, one of the most intense and dramatic years in human history as evidenced by the pictures below. Thousands of young guys died.
A double decker bus burns as riot police try to contain a large group of people on a main road in Tottenham on August 6, 2011.
A wave caused by a tsunami flows into the city of Miyako from the Heigawa estuary in Iwate Prefecture after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck Japan March 11, 2011.
Residents bathe amongst tsunami devastation in Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture on April 14, 2011.
Arab Spring
Anti-government activists clash with riot police in Cairo on January 28, 2011
A warplane of government forces crashes after being shot down over the outskirts of Benghazi in eastern Libya.
A motorcycle policeman burns as his colleague tries to help him after protesters threw a petrol bomb in Athens on February 23, 2011. Scores of youths hurled rocks and petrol bombs at riot police after clashes broke out during a general strike.
After a tornado struck, Faye Hyde sits on a mattress in what was her yard as she comforts her granddaughter Sierra Goldsmith, 2, in Conord Ala.
Hundreds of cars were abandoned on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago after a winter blizzard of historic proportions wobbled an otherwise snow-tough Chicago, stranding drivers for up to 12 hours overnight on February 2, 2011.
A vendor jumps from the top of one overcrowded train to another on January 23, 2011 as thousands of Muslims return home after attending the three-day Islamic Congregation on the banks of the River Turag in Tongi, Bangladesh. The congregation, held each year since 1966, is among the world's largest religious gatherings.
A fisherman arranges a net as his wife paddles their boat in the waters of the Periyar river on the outskirts of Kochi, India on January 5, 2011
A cloud of ash billowing from Puyehue volcano near Osorno in southern Chile, 870 km south of Santiago, on June 5. Puyehue volcano erupted for the first time in half a century on June 4, 2011, prompting evacuations for 3,500 people as it sent a cloud of ash that reached Argentina. The National Service of Geology and Mining said the explosion that sparked the eruption also produced a column of gas 10 kilometers (six miles) high, hours after warning of strong seismic activity in the area
Katlyn Wilkins works on securing an American flag in a tree as she deals with the destruction caused by a massive tornado that passed through the town killing at least 139 people on May 29 in Joplin, Mo.
Cars stand submerged in overflow water from the Wolf River on McMiller Road in Memphis, Tenn. May 10, 2011. After weeks of rising to historic levels the Mississippi River reached a crest just shy of the forecast 48 feet at the Memphis gauge. "It's going to meander around that level for the next 24 to 36 hours," meteorologist Bill Borghoff said. "We're going to pretty much hold onto the crest for a while."
A leopard attacks a forest guard July 19 at Prakash Nagar village near Salugara, on the outskirts of Siliguri, India. The leopard strayed into the village area and mauled several villagers, including three guards, before being caught by forest officials. The leopard, which suffered injuries caused by knives and batons, died later in the evening at a veterinary center. The forest guard being attacked was injured.
On July 5th a historic dust storm, or haboob, approaches downtown Phoenix, AZ. The wall of dust, which was estimated to be 70 miles long and over a mile high, moved at speeds of 35mph and had gusts up to 60mph.
Lightning strikes June 6th over the Puyehue volcano, over 500 miles south of Santiago, Chile.
Emergency personnel carry out rescue operations after two carriages from a bullet train derailed and fell off a bridge in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province July 24. At least 32 people died when the high-speed train smashed into a stalled train in China's eastern Zhejiang province on Saturday, state media said, raising new questions about the safety of the fast-growing rail network.
Policemen and residents run as waves from a tidal bore surge past a barrier on the banks of the Qiantang River in Haining, Zhejiang province Aug. 31
An area destroyed by wildfire surrounds a water tower in Bastrop, Texas, Sept. 7, 2011
NYC survivied relatively unscathed in 2011
A policeman rushes to extinguish Apostolos Polyzonis, who set himself alight outside a bank branch in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Sept. 16, 2011 while protesting against government, banks and political parties. The 55-year old man has attempted self-immolation before, two-years ago, over financial problems. The man was hospitalized with non life-threatening burns.
A Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighter looks through a large concrete pipe where ousted Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi was allegedly captured. A dead loyalist gunman lies in the foreground, in the coastal Libyan city of Sirte, Oct. 20, 2011. Arabic graffiti in blue reads: "This is the place of Kadhafi, the rat.. God is the greatest.
A swimming pool in China
Partially-submerged vehicles sit stranded in floodwaters at a roundabout in the Thai ancient capital city of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, Oct. 16, 2011. Flood defenses protecting the Thai capital held up on Oct. 16, but the advancing waters that have swamped the inland still threaten to engulf Bangkok in a disaster that has claimed 300 lives. Thailand's worst floods in decades have inundated huge swathes of the kingdom, swallowing homes and businesses, shutting down industry, and forcing tens of thousands of people to seek refuge in shelters.
An activist holds a cross in front of a burning barricade during evictions at the Dale Farm travellers site, near Basildon England, 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of London. Police in riot gear used sledgehammers to clear the way for the eviction of a community of Irish Travellers from a site where they have lived illegally for a decade.
An LOT Polish airlines Boeing 767 flying from New York with 227 people on board makes an emergency landing at Warsaw's airport, Nov. 1, 2011 after having problems lowering its landing gear. The plane had dropped fuel and circled above Warsaw for some time and a landing strip was specially prepared at the airport for the crash landing. No one was injured during the emergency landing according to an LOT spokesman.
University of California, Davis Police Lt. John Pike uses pepper spray to move Occupy UC Davis protesters while blocking their exit from the school's quad in Davis, Calif. Pike, the riot-clad police officer who pepper sprayed a row of peaceful Occupy Wall Street protesters at a California university, is a retired U.S. Marine sergeant twice honored for his police work on campus, Nov. 18, 2011
Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton react after speaking to the press at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon, Myanmar.
A double decker bus burns as riot police try to contain a large group of people on a main road in Tottenham on August 6, 2011.
A wave caused by a tsunami flows into the city of Miyako from the Heigawa estuary in Iwate Prefecture after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck Japan March 11, 2011.
Residents bathe amongst tsunami devastation in Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture on April 14, 2011.
Arab Spring
Anti-government activists clash with riot police in Cairo on January 28, 2011
A warplane of government forces crashes after being shot down over the outskirts of Benghazi in eastern Libya.
A motorcycle policeman burns as his colleague tries to help him after protesters threw a petrol bomb in Athens on February 23, 2011. Scores of youths hurled rocks and petrol bombs at riot police after clashes broke out during a general strike.
After a tornado struck, Faye Hyde sits on a mattress in what was her yard as she comforts her granddaughter Sierra Goldsmith, 2, in Conord Ala.
Hundreds of cars were abandoned on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago after a winter blizzard of historic proportions wobbled an otherwise snow-tough Chicago, stranding drivers for up to 12 hours overnight on February 2, 2011.
A vendor jumps from the top of one overcrowded train to another on January 23, 2011 as thousands of Muslims return home after attending the three-day Islamic Congregation on the banks of the River Turag in Tongi, Bangladesh. The congregation, held each year since 1966, is among the world's largest religious gatherings.
A fisherman arranges a net as his wife paddles their boat in the waters of the Periyar river on the outskirts of Kochi, India on January 5, 2011
A cloud of ash billowing from Puyehue volcano near Osorno in southern Chile, 870 km south of Santiago, on June 5. Puyehue volcano erupted for the first time in half a century on June 4, 2011, prompting evacuations for 3,500 people as it sent a cloud of ash that reached Argentina. The National Service of Geology and Mining said the explosion that sparked the eruption also produced a column of gas 10 kilometers (six miles) high, hours after warning of strong seismic activity in the area
Katlyn Wilkins works on securing an American flag in a tree as she deals with the destruction caused by a massive tornado that passed through the town killing at least 139 people on May 29 in Joplin, Mo.
Cars stand submerged in overflow water from the Wolf River on McMiller Road in Memphis, Tenn. May 10, 2011. After weeks of rising to historic levels the Mississippi River reached a crest just shy of the forecast 48 feet at the Memphis gauge. "It's going to meander around that level for the next 24 to 36 hours," meteorologist Bill Borghoff said. "We're going to pretty much hold onto the crest for a while."
A leopard attacks a forest guard July 19 at Prakash Nagar village near Salugara, on the outskirts of Siliguri, India. The leopard strayed into the village area and mauled several villagers, including three guards, before being caught by forest officials. The leopard, which suffered injuries caused by knives and batons, died later in the evening at a veterinary center. The forest guard being attacked was injured.
On July 5th a historic dust storm, or haboob, approaches downtown Phoenix, AZ. The wall of dust, which was estimated to be 70 miles long and over a mile high, moved at speeds of 35mph and had gusts up to 60mph.
Lightning strikes June 6th over the Puyehue volcano, over 500 miles south of Santiago, Chile.
Emergency personnel carry out rescue operations after two carriages from a bullet train derailed and fell off a bridge in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province July 24. At least 32 people died when the high-speed train smashed into a stalled train in China's eastern Zhejiang province on Saturday, state media said, raising new questions about the safety of the fast-growing rail network.
Policemen and residents run as waves from a tidal bore surge past a barrier on the banks of the Qiantang River in Haining, Zhejiang province Aug. 31
An area destroyed by wildfire surrounds a water tower in Bastrop, Texas, Sept. 7, 2011
NYC survivied relatively unscathed in 2011
A policeman rushes to extinguish Apostolos Polyzonis, who set himself alight outside a bank branch in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Sept. 16, 2011 while protesting against government, banks and political parties. The 55-year old man has attempted self-immolation before, two-years ago, over financial problems. The man was hospitalized with non life-threatening burns.
A Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighter looks through a large concrete pipe where ousted Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi was allegedly captured. A dead loyalist gunman lies in the foreground, in the coastal Libyan city of Sirte, Oct. 20, 2011. Arabic graffiti in blue reads: "This is the place of Kadhafi, the rat.. God is the greatest.
A swimming pool in China
Partially-submerged vehicles sit stranded in floodwaters at a roundabout in the Thai ancient capital city of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, Oct. 16, 2011. Flood defenses protecting the Thai capital held up on Oct. 16, but the advancing waters that have swamped the inland still threaten to engulf Bangkok in a disaster that has claimed 300 lives. Thailand's worst floods in decades have inundated huge swathes of the kingdom, swallowing homes and businesses, shutting down industry, and forcing tens of thousands of people to seek refuge in shelters.
An activist holds a cross in front of a burning barricade during evictions at the Dale Farm travellers site, near Basildon England, 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of London. Police in riot gear used sledgehammers to clear the way for the eviction of a community of Irish Travellers from a site where they have lived illegally for a decade.
An LOT Polish airlines Boeing 767 flying from New York with 227 people on board makes an emergency landing at Warsaw's airport, Nov. 1, 2011 after having problems lowering its landing gear. The plane had dropped fuel and circled above Warsaw for some time and a landing strip was specially prepared at the airport for the crash landing. No one was injured during the emergency landing according to an LOT spokesman.
University of California, Davis Police Lt. John Pike uses pepper spray to move Occupy UC Davis protesters while blocking their exit from the school's quad in Davis, Calif. Pike, the riot-clad police officer who pepper sprayed a row of peaceful Occupy Wall Street protesters at a California university, is a retired U.S. Marine sergeant twice honored for his police work on campus, Nov. 18, 2011
Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton react after speaking to the press at Suu Kyi's residence in Yangon, Myanmar.
The one with the cop set on fire is pretty intense. Hopefully he survived... 
and brown skinned asian guys with black hair...ahh...what can be better LOL
My fav is the jet fighter about to crash
