Review of the decade: Environmental milestones of the noughties

2001: US vice-president Dick Cheney, a former oil executive, explains the US administration's energy policy as George Bush refuses to endorse the Kyoto protocol. It was later ratified when Russia joined in 2005 Photograph: Shawn Thew/AFP

2003: Heatwave in Europe as temperatures reach 38.5C (101.4°F). The Eiffel tower is barely visible as the air around Paris becomes more polluted. More than 30,000 people died in what later became Europe's biggest natural disaster Photograph: Jack Guez/AFP

2004: Gonaives, Haiti, six days after floods inundated the city and its surroundings. Up to 2,500 people died, thousands of homes were destroyed and about a quarter of a million people are estimated to have been affected by the flooding spawned by tropical storm Jeanne Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP

2004: An aerial view of an area deforested by soybean farmers in Novo Progreso, Para, Brazil. Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in 2004 was the second worst on record, figures released by the Brazilian government showed. Satellite photos and data showed that ranchers, soybean farmers and loggers burned and cut down a near-record area of 26,130 square kilometers (10,088 square miles) of rainforest in the 12 months ending August 2004 Photograph: Alberto Cesar/ Greenpeace/AP

2005: Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the most deadly hurricanes to hit the United States. It caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge. The most severe loss of life and property damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana, which flooded as the levee system catastrophically failed. Eventually 80% of the city became flooded and at least 1,836 people lost their lives Photograph: Robert F. Bukaty/AP

2006: Sir David King, the UK prime minister's scientific adviser, joined the calls backing nuclear power as part of the solution to Britain's energy problems Photograph: Martin Godwin

2006: The first Climate Camp. Protesters gather, vowing to close down Britain's biggest coal-fired power station – Drax in North Yorkshire Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA Archive

2007: China officially overtook the US as the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

2007: Al Gore and Dr Rajendra Pachauri receive the Nobel peace prize in Oslo, Norway, on behalf of the IPCC for its work on climate change Photograph: Allover Norway/Rex Features

2008: Pakistani men hold plastic bags as they wait to get their ration of rice during food distribution at the Data Durbar mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. World rice and other grains prices rose sharply because of growing demand, poor weather and rising cost of petroleum in some grain-producing countries Photograph: Emilio Morenatti/AP

2009: President Barack Obama tours the solar array at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Denver, Colorado. His election win in 2008 gave hope to many that climate change and environmental issues would be addressed following the Bush years of inaction and denial Photograph: Charles Ommanney/Getty Images

2009: An 'alarming rate' of melting in the Antarctic peninsula broke the ice bridge that held the Wilkins ice shelf in place, experts say.
Left: The Wilkins ice shelf on 9 July 2008 showing the ice bridge connected to Charcot island and Latady island (bottom left).
Right: The shelf on 3 October, 2009, after it finally snapped Photograph: ASAR/Envisat/ESA