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Happy New Year! Here are 7 ways the world is getting better.

Some horrific things happened this year, from ISIS to Ebola to airplanes dropping out of the sky. Each year brings bad news, but viewed with a wider lens, the world is gradually becoming a much better place. Check out the video above for a few bits of good news and some beautiful footage of fireworks filmed by a drone camera.

For more good news, read 26 charts and maps that show the world is getting much, much better.

And don’t miss our mashup of the news events that defined 2014:

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