The top 10 trending news stories of 2017, according to Google

On September 5, President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced plans to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a controversial Obama-era policy that shields from deportation nearly 800,000 young immigrants living in the country illegally after being brought to the US as minors.

The move drew backlash from Democrats and immigration activists, but lauded by many Republicans and those who believe US immigration laws are too lax.

DACA recipients are still in limbo as Congress has not yet agreed on a permanent legislative solution. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham reintroduced the bipartisan Dream Act in September, but it hasn't gained much traction.

The young immigrants are likely to lose their protected status by March if nothing is done.

The 40-minute video of a giraffe giving birth at Animal Adventure Park in New York went viral in April.

At least 1.2 million people watched the Adventure Park's YouTube streaming of the event. The newborn was Animal Adventure Park's first giraffe calf.

Of all the terrible storms this year, Hurricane Maria was the deadliest to strike the Caribbean, with more than 1,000 likely deaths in Puerto Rico, a US commonwealth inhabited by roughly 3.5 million American citizens. That estimated death toll stands in stark contrast to the island's official tally of 64.

Much of Puerto Rico is still without power as officials try to rebuild the island's electric grid, which was almost completely destroyed, back up again from scratch.

In the midst of the deluge of hurricanes that devastated parts of the southern US and various islands in the Caribbean, Hurricane Jose, which formed in early September, threatened to cause even more damage.

Luckily, it drifted far enough off shore to avoid causing much harm, but it still forced evacuations and brought strong winds and heavy rains to the Bahamas, Bermuda, and parts of the eastern US and Canada.

Trump's war of words with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been one of the biggest stories of the year.

The rising tensions between the two foes, their threatening Cold War-esque rhetoric, and North Korea's continued development of its nuclear weapons program has many people on both sides of the Pacific fearing a nuclear war.

Bitcoin's popularity has surged this year as its value continues to rise and the promise of cryptocurrency continues to inspire millions around the world to join the exciting, yet risky venture.

On Sunday night, the excitement continued as Bitcoin futures went live on Cboe Global Markets, the Chicago-based exchange group. The virtual currency shot up more than $1,000 within the first 10 minutes of the new market to a price over $17,000.

In August, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in southern Texas, putting much of Houston underwater and forcing thousands of evacuations. It was one of the costliest natural disasters in US history.

The storm dropped over 4 feet of rain on parts of Texas.

For the first time first time in 99 years on August 21, a solar eclipse crossed the US from coast to coast, making for spectacular views of the celestial event of the century.

On October 1, a gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and injuring more than 500 more at a country music concert. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

The attack renewed America's ongoing debate over gun control, with particular interest in the use of bump stocks, which allowed the Vegas shooter to fire faster rounds.

Intense winds of 185 mph made Hurricane Irma the strongest recorded storm to ever exist in the Atlantic, outside the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated their homes in the Caribbean and southern US. More than 100 died.

The storm's intensity, threat to the US mainland, and widespread destruction made it the year's top trending news story in search.