Del Mar firefighters roll up hose after a day fighting wildfires Wednesday, May 14, 2014, in Carlsbad, Calif. More wildfires broke out Wednesday in San Diego County, threatening homes in Carlsbad and forcing the evacuations of military housing and an elementary school at Camp Pendleton. (Photo by AP Photo)

Storks casts shadows as they search for food on the dried-up Lake May in southwest Turkey on October 30, 2021. (Photo by Seyit Konyal/Solent News)

Aerial view of Taxodium Distichum in full blossom at a maze area of a wetland park on January 6, 2023 in Xiamen, Fujian Province of China. (Photo by Wu Wei/VCG via Getty Images)

The DFDS King of seaways enters the Mouth of the Tyne on the North East coast in Rough sea on Wednesday, January 18, 2023. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)

Santa Claus rides in his sleigh as he prepares for Christmas in the Arctic Circle near Rovaniemi, Finland December 15, 2016. At Santa Claus' Lapland home in Finland, his helpers sort out piles of letters from around the world, each detailing children's requests for this Christmas. (Photo by Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

Yakutsk, with a population of around 270,000, holds its own title: that of the coldest city on Earth. Here: Frost-encrusted house in the city centre. (Photo by Amos Chapple/Courtesy Images/RFE/RL)

An Iranian girl walks at the Tochal ski resort, in north of Tehran, Iran on December 12, 2019. (Photo by Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA via Reuters)