The Associated Press released its annual top 10 story rankings this week, with several not on our top five: gay marriage, the fiscal cliff and Penn State.

And there are plenty of other rankings. Google tracks the most searched events of 2012. In the United States, that list goes like this: Hurricane Sandy, the presidential election, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, UEFA Europe 2012 (soccer), the KONY movement, the Stop Online Piracy Act Protest, the Aurora shooting, the Trayvon Martin shooting and Hurricane Isaac.

The Yahoo News list included the Miami causeway attack and Trayvon Martin, and added in the death of Whitney Houston, gas prices, the Jerry Sandusky trial and the trial of Joran van der Sloot, the Dutch citizen suspected in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba and sentenced to 28 years in prison for the 2010 robbery and murder of Stephany Tatiana Flores in Peru.

In the end, what determines the most important stories depends on who you are and where you live. Through The Miami Herald and WLRN Herald News Public Insight Network, we asked for top story suggestions. Voting problems ranked high among PIN members who responded. We heard about climate change and rising sea levels, and the collapse of the parking and classroom structure at the west campus of Miami Dade College.

As we approach the new year, here’s one more chance to weigh in. At MiamiHerald.com, you can vote on your top story choices in an unscientific online poll. Or leave a comment on this article.

From all of us at The Miami Herald, have a happy and safe New Year.