In 2022, 45% of the world's population lived in "some form of democracy", although only 8% lived in "full democracies."[5] The
United Nations estimates that by 2050, two thirds of the world's population will be
urbanized.
Due to the sudden proliferation of internet-accessible
mobile devices, such as
smartphones becoming ubiquitous worldwide beginning in the early 2010s, more than half of the world's population obtained access to the
Internet by 2018.[11] After the success of the
Human Genome Project,
DNA sequencing services became available and affordable.[12][13]
Pronunciation
There is a lack of general agreement over how to pronounce specific years of the 21st century in English. Academics have pointed out that the early years of previous centuries were commonly pronounced as, for example, "eighteen oh five" (for 1805) and "nineteen oh five" (for 1905).[14] Generally, the
early years of the 21st century were pronounced as in "two-thousand (and) five," with a change taking place around 2010, when pronunciations often shifted between the early-years form of "two-thousand and ten" and the traditionally more concise form of "twenty-ten."
Advances in technology such as
ultrasound, prenatal genetic testing and
genetic engineering are modifying the demographics[clarification needed] and have the potential to change the genetic makeup of the human population. Because of
sex-selective abortion, fewer girls have been born in the 21st century (and since the early 1980s) compared to past centuries, mostly because of
son preference in East and South Asia. In 2014, only 47 percent of Indian births were of girls.[15] This has led to an increase in
bachelors in countries such as China and India. The first
genetically modified children were born in November 2018 in
China, beginning a new biological era for the human species and raising great controversy.
Anxiety[16] and
depression[17] rates have risen in the
United States and many other parts of the world. However,
suicide rates have fallen in Europe and most of the rest of the world so far this century, declining 29% globally between 2000 and 2018, despite rising 18% in the
United States in the same period. The decline in suicide has been most notable among Chinese and Indian women, the elderly, and middle-aged Russian men.[18][19]
Telecommunications in the early 21st century are much more advanced and universal than they were in the late 20th century. Only a few percent of the world's population were
Internet users and
cellular phone owners in the late 1990s; as of 2023, 64.4% of the world's population is online, and as of 2019, an estimated 67% own a cell phone.[23] In the 2010s,
artificial intelligence, mainly in the form of
deep learning and
machine learning, became more prevalent and is prominently used in
Gmail and
Google's search engine, in banking, with the military and other areas. In 2020, 9% of the world's population still lacked access to electricity.[24]
War and violence have declined considerably compared to the 20th century, continuing the post-World War II trend called
Long Peace.
Malnourishment and
poverty are still widespread globally, but fewer people live in the most extreme forms of poverty. In 1990, approximately one-in-four people were malnourished, and nearly 36% of the world's population lived in
extreme poverty; by 2015, these numbers had dropped to approximately one-in-eight and 10%, respectively.[citation needed]
Concepts such as eco-friendly lifestyles, recycling, and upcycling are having a profound impact on daily lives. Sustainable fashion, architecture, and food culture are all important elements that will facilitate the development of an environmentally conscious culture well into the future.[citation needed]
Population and urbanization
The
world population was about 6.1 billion at the start of the 21st century and reached 8 billion by November 2022. It is
estimated to reach nearly 8.6 billion by 2030,[26] and 9.8 billion by 2050. According to the
United Nations World Urbanization prospects, a 60% projection of the world's human population is to live in
megacities and
megalopolises by 2030, 70% by 2050, and 90% by 2080. It is expected by 2040, the investing of more than 5 times the current global
gross domestic product is expected to be in urban infrastructure.[27]
Life expectancy has increased as
child mortality continues to decline. A baby born in 2019, for example, will, on average (globally), live to 73 years—27 years longer than the global average of someone born in 1950.[28] Ten million
Britons (16% of the
United Kingdom population) will, on average, live to 100 or older.[29]
Bitcoin and other
cryptocurrencies are decentralized currencies that are not controlled by any central bank. These currencies are increasing in popularity worldwide due to the expanding availability of the
internet and are mainly used as a
store of value.
There is an ongoing impact of
technological unemployment due to
automation and
computerization: the rate at which jobs are disappearing—due to machines replacing them—is expected to escalate.[33] Automation alters the number of jobs and the skills demands of industries. As of 2019, the production output of
first world nations' manufacturing sectors was doubled when compared to 1984 output; but it is now produced with one-third fewer workers and at significantly reduced
operating costs.[34] Half of all jobs with requirements lower than a bachelor's degree are currently in the process of being replaced with partial- or full-automation.[35]
A rise in the retirement age has been called for in view of an increase in
life expectancy and has been put in place in many jurisdictions.[37][38]
Linguistic diversity
As of 2009,
Ethnologue catalogued 6,909 living human languages.[39] The exact number of known living languages will vary from 5,000 to 10,000, generally depending on the precision of one's definition of "language", and in particular, on how one classifies dialects.
Estimates vary depending on many factors, but the general consensus is that there are between 6,000 and 7,000 languages currently spoken. Between 50% and 90% of those will have become extinct by the year 2100.[40]
The
top 20 languages spoken by more than 50 million speakers each, are spoken by 50% of the world's population. In contrast, many of the other languages are spoken by small communities, most of them with fewer than 10,000 speakers.[40]
1998–2003 – The
Second Congo War continued into the early 21st century. A 1999 ceasefire quickly broke down and a UN peacekeeping mission,
MONUC, was unable to control the fighting. Troops from
Rwanda and
Uganda continued to support rebel groups against the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and rifts also grew between Rwanda and Uganda as they accused each other of supporting rival rebel groups as well.
Laurent Kabila, president of the DRC, was assassinated in January 2001 and his son,
Joseph Kabila, took power. Throughout 2002 steps were made towards peace and Rwanda and Uganda both removed their troops from the country. On
December 17, 2002, a massive treaty officially ended the war. However, the DRC only holds power in less than half of the country, with most of the eastern and northern portions still controlled by rebel groups, where there is still significant infighting. In addition, Rwanda still supports anti-DRC rebels and anti-Rwandan rebels continue to operate from the DRC. The war killed an estimated 3.9 million people, displaced nearly 5.5 million, and led to a widespread and ongoing famine that continues to result in deaths. Severe human rights violations continue to be reported.[41]
2000–2005 – The
Second Intifada, a major Palestinian uprising against
Israel, is estimated to have led to the deaths of approximately 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis.[citation needed]
2001–2014 – The
Northern Alliance and
NATO-led
ISAFinvadesAfghanistan on
October 7, 2001, and overthrows the Al-Qaeda-supportive
Taliban government. Troops remained to install a democratic government, fight a slowly escalating insurgency, and to hunt for Al-Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden who would be
killed by
American troops nearly 10 years later, on
May 2, 2011. On
December 24, 2014, NATO forces officially ended combat operations in Afghanistan, but forces remained until
August 30, 2021, followed by a quick withdrawal of all troops.
The
Euro is the official currency introduced in the
Eurozone countries.[43] The former currencies of all the countries that use the Euro ceased to be legal tender on February 28.[44]
The government of Sri Lanka and the
Tamil Tigers agree to a ceasefire, temporarily ending the
Sri Lankan Civil War.[55] It would last until the resumption of hostilities in 2008.[56]
2003–present – In February 2003, a conflict in
Darfur,
Sudan begins and escalates into
full-scale war. By 2008 it was believed that up to 400,000 people had been killed and over 2.5 million displaced. In 2005, the ICC decided that Darfur war criminals would be tried, and on
July 14, 2008, Sudanese president
Omar al-Bashir was charged with 5 accounts of
crimes against humanity and 2 accounts of war crimes, even though the ICC had no power to enforce such charges.
2003–2010 – The
U.S.-led coalitioninvadesIraq on
March 20, 2003, and overthrows the government of
Saddam Hussein (who is executed by the Iraqi government on December 30, 2006). Coalition troops remain in the country to install a democratic government and fight an escalating insurgency. In addition to an insurgency against the American presence, Iraq also suffered from a
civil war for several years. The war was soon seen as the central front of the War on Terror by many governments, despite growing international dissatisfaction with the war. The
total death toll has been estimated at near 150,000 but these estimations are highly disputed, with one highly disputed study guessing even over 1 million.[59] After the U.S.-led coalition initiated a
troop surge in 2007, casualty numbers have decreased significantly. Combat ended, at least officially, in August 2010.
September 1 – A group of Chechen rebels
invade a school in Beslan, keeping thousands of hostages during three days. A series of shootings and bombings kills 334 people and injured 750.
July 12 –
Hezbollah crosses the border of
Lebanon and captures two Israeli soldiers. Israel
responds by sending troops across the border and bombing Hezbollah strongholds, while Hezbollah fires missiles on towns in northern Israel, approximately 6 each day. At the end of the war 1,200 Lebanese civilians, 500 Hezbollah fighters, 44 Israeli civilians and 121 Israeli soldiers die. A ceasefire is signed on
August 14, after which Israeli troops withdrew from Lebanon.
January 9 – Apple CEO
Steve Jobs introduces the original
iPhone at a Macworld keynote in
San Francisco, starting the new era of smartphones with this invention.
January 25 – A
civil war escalates in the
Gaza Strip throughout June, which would result in the
Hamas driving most
Fatah-loyal forces out from the Strip. In reaction, Palestinian president
Mahmoud Abbas dismisses Hamas Prime Minister
Ismail Haniyeh and dissolves the Hamas-ruled parliament. Scattered conflict continues.
June 25 – American pop star
Michael Jackson dies at the age of 50. His
death triggers an outpouring of worldwide grief; online reactions to the event cripple several major websites and services, as the abundance of people accessing the
web addresses pushes
internet traffic to unprecedented and historic levels.[82]
July 22 –
Anders Behring Breivik perpetrates two
terrorist attacks in
Norway, the first being a bombing targeting government buildings in central
Oslo, the second being a mass shooting at a youth camp on the island of
Utøya. It was the deadliest attack in Norway since the
Second World War, with 77 people killed and 319 injuries.
September 17 – The
Occupy movement, an international protest movement against
social and
economic inequality, takes shape. It is partially inspired by the Arab Spring and is one of the first significant global protest movements to occur in the age of
social media.
February 28 –
Pope Benedict XVI resigns, becoming the first pope to do so since 1415. Benedict takes the title
pope emeritus. At the subsequent
papal conclave, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected pope on
March 13, becoming the first Latin American pope. Bergoglio takes the name of
Pope Francis.
Iran allows international inspections on its nuclear policy in exchange of the removal of the sanctions and the right to produce a small amount of low-grade enriched uranium, thus marking an apparent new policy towards the
United Nations under
Hassan Rohani's presidency.
May 26 –
Narendra Modi becomes 14th Prime Minister of
India, winning a clear majority in the election.
July 8 –
August 26 – In
Israel,
tensions rise again between
Hamas in the
Gaza Strip and the State of Israel. Hamas fire hundreds of missiles into civilian cities in Israel, and the IDF retaliates and conducts airstrikes on the Gaza Strip for more than a month, with high casualties on both sides.
July 17 –
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a civilian commercial aircraft, is shot down in pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory in Eastern Ukraine.
January 7 – Two gunmen, brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, commit
a mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in
Paris, killing 12 people. Following the attack, about two million people, including more than 40 world leaders, met in Paris for a
rally of national unity, and 3.7 million people joined demonstrations across the country. The phrase Je suis Charlie became a common slogan of support at the rallies and in social media.
June 5 –
Hillary Clinton becomes the
Democratic Party's nominee for president of the United States, making her the first woman to be nominated for president by a major party.
January 27 – U.S. President
Donald Trump signs an
executive order restricting travel and immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. This order was blocked by the
U.S. federal courts; a second, related order issued by Trump was also blocked by the federal courts. The block of second order was partially removed, by the Supreme Court, in June. The Supreme Court stated they would reconsider the order in October.
October 28 –
Jair Bolsonaro is
elected as the 38th president of
Brazil, after having been stabbed during the election campaign and undergone three surgeries.
August 11 –
Kamala Harris becomes the Democratic Party's nominee for vice-president of the United States, making her the first
African-American, the first
Asian-American and the third female vice presidential running mate on a major party ticket.
November 3 –
Joe Biden is
elected as the 46th president of the United States, and
Kamala Harris is elected as vice-president. Biden is the oldest person elected to a first term.
January 6 –
Pro-Trump rioters storm the US Capitol, disrupting the Congressional certification of United States President-elect
Joe Biden. Trump is
impeached a second time a week later for his role in the storming, making him the first US federal official to be impeached more than once and the first president to have his
trial occur after his tenure expired.
June 7 – The Juno spacecraft performs its only flyby of
Jupiter's moon
Ganymede, the first flyby of the moon by any spacecraft in over 20 years.[130][131]
July 7 – President of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, is
assassinated in a midnight attack by unknown mercenaries.
February 4 – China and Russia issue a joint statement opposing further
NATO expansion, expressing "serious concerns" about the
AUKUS security pact, and pledging to cooperate with each other on a range of issues.[133]
January 1 –
Croatia adopts the
euro and joins the
Schengen Area, becoming the 20th member state of the
Eurozone and the 27th member of the Schengen Area. This is the first enlargement of the Eurozone since
Lithuania's entry in
2015, and the first enlargement of the Schengen Area since
Liechtenstein's entry in
2011.[138][139]
February 6 – Two
earthquakes strike southern
Turkey, the first 7.8 (
Mww) in Gaziantep Province and the other 7.5 Mww in Kahramanmaraş Province, causing widespread damage and at least 58,000 deaths in
Turkey and
Syria, with more than 120,000 injured.[141][142]
May 1 – San Francisco-based
First Republic Bank fails and is auctioned off by the US
FDIC to
JPMorgan Chase for $10.7 billion The collapse surpasses March's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank to become the second largest in US history.
May 12 – The
Title 42 expulsion policy expires at midnight, creating a question about whether a new immigration policy would be formed as a replacement. This comes as a surge of migrants gather at the U.S southern border.
The world's
oceans reach a new record high temperature of 20.96 °C, exceeding the previous record in 2016. July is also confirmed as having been the hottest month on record for globally averaged
surface air temperatures by a considerable margin (0.3 °C).
August 8 – 13,000 acres of land are burned and 53 people are killed when a series of
wildfires break out on the island of
Maui in
Hawaii.
August 11 – The
United States recorded its highest number of
suicides in 2022, with 49,449 people taking their own lives, making it the deadliest suicide rate in the country since
World War II.
September 10 –
Storm Daniel, a
Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone makes landfall in
Libya, killing at least 5,000 people, with Libyan authorities announcing between 10,000 and 100,000 missing. In the city of
Derna in
Libya, two dams collapsed, resulting in a quarter of the city being destroyed.
September 24: French President
Emmanuel Macron announces that France will end its military presence in Niger and will remove its ambassador from the country.
September 25: The United States recognizes the
Cook Islands and
Niue as sovereign states, establishing formal relations between both Pacific island countries.
October 9 – Israel
launches multiple air strikes on the Lebanon border, after rockets are fired by
Hezbollah and attempts are made to project the group's power into Israel-occupied positions.
The first
AI Safety Summit takes place in the United Kingdom, with 28 countries signing a "world first agreement" on how to manage the riskiest forms of
artificial intelligence.
SAG-AFTRA ends its
strike at 12:01 a.m. PDT following a tentative deal reached the day prior.
November 14 –
17 – President Biden hosts the
APEC summit in San Francisco which Chinese president
Xi Jinping attends, marking the first time since 2017 that Xi has set foot in the United States.[143] Both countries at the conclusion of the summit agree to re-open suspended channels of military communications and to cooperate in their fight against
climate change.[144][145]
November 22 – Israel and Hamas agree to a four-day ceasefire, the first pause in fighting since 7 October, during which many Israeli hostages will be released, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
November 30 – Brazil announces it will join
OPEC+ at a meeting of the organization to discuss oil output strategy in 2024. Brazil is the largest oil producer in
South America, producing 4.6 million barrels per day of oil and gas.
December 12 – At the
COP28 climate summit in
Dubai, a consensus is reached for countries to "transition away" from fossil fuels, the first such agreement in the conference's 30-year history.
In the
Red Sea, one of the world's most important routes for cargo and fuel shipments, a deteriorating security situation is reported due to attacks on vessels by
Houthi rebels. A number of shipping companies announce a temporary suspension of their operations, including oil giant
BP.
At least 127 people are killed and at least 20 are missing in an
earthquake in northwest
China.
A 7.5
Mwwearthquake strikes the western coast of
Japan, killing at least 100 people and injuring 392 others. A further five are killed the next day when a
Coast Guard aircraft carrying
humanitarian aidcollides with a
Japan Airlines passenger jet, destroying both aircraft. All 379 people aboard the passenger jet are evacuated safely.
Ethiopia announces an agreement with
Somaliland to use the port of
Berbera. Ethiopia also says that it will eventually recognize Somaliland's
independence, becoming the first country to do so.
Astrobotic Technology alongside
NASAlaunch the first commercial Lunar Lander. Seven hours after launch, an anomaly prevents stable orientation due to propulsion issues, resulting in critical fuel loss and the abandonment of the moon landing.
Some territories and states have gained independence during the 21st century. This is a list of sovereign states that have gained independence in the 21st century and have been recognized by the
UN.
2005 – The Huygens probe lands on
Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, on 14 January.
2006 – The New Horizons probe is launched to Pluto, on 19 January.
2006 –
Pluto is reclassified from a
planet to a
dwarf planet, leaving the solar system with eight planets.
2007 – China launches its first lunar mission with the
Chang'e 1, on 24 October.
2008 – India launches its first lunar mission
Chandrayaan-1 which included a
remote sensing orbiter and impactor on 22 October 2008. It made India the third nation to place its flag on Moon.
2008 –
Chinese space program launches its third crewed space flight carrying its first three-person crew and conducts its first spacewalk that makes China the third nation after Russia and USA to do that, Shenzhou 7, on 25 September.
2012 – NASA successfully lands the
Curiosity rover on the surface of
Mars, on 6 August.
2014 – India's
Mars Orbiter Mission, the nation's first attempt to send a spacecraft to Mars, successfully entered orbit on 24 September, making India the fourth nation in the world to reach that goal.
2015 – On 14 July, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft became the first to fly by
Pluto, on a mission to photograph and collect data on its planetary system. No other spacecraft has yet performed such a mission so far from Earth.
2015 – On 28 September, NASA announces that liquid water has been found on
Mars.[160]
2015 –
SpaceX launches and lands a
Falcon 9 into orbital space on 21 December, becoming the first reusable rocket to do so.
2016 –
SpaceX lands the first orbital rocket, a
CRS-8, on a drone platform at sea on 8 April.
2016 – On 4 July, NASA's
Juno space probe maneuvered into a polar orbit to study the planet
Jupiter.[161]
2016 – On 26 July,
Solar Impulse 2 becomes the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the world.
2019 – NASA concludes the 15-year
Opportunity rover mission after being unable to wake the rover from hibernation.[163]
2019 –
Israel launched its first
spacecraft, Beresheet, towards the
Moon on 7 April; after two months of journey, the spacecraft failed to land and crashed on the surface of the Moon, making Israel the seventh country to orbit the Moon.
2022 – The first image from the James Webb Space Telescope is published.[165]
2022 – NASA successfully launches the
Artemis 1 Moon mission on the SLS spacecraft after multiple delays.
2023 – India successfully touched down near the south pole of the Moon with Chandrayaan-3's lander on August 23, making it only the fourth country to achieve the feat of reaching lunar surface after the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union.[166]
2010 – The
Large Hadron Collider's first high energy collisions took place in March 2010.
2012 – Physicists discover the
Higgs boson based on collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, on 4 July. It is the latest particle to be discovered in the
Standard Model.[167]
2016 – On 11 February,
LIGO announces the discovery of bursts of
gravitational waves generated by cosmic collisions of
black holes on, and was previously predicted by
Albert Einstein 100 years ago.
The
Digital Revolution continued into the early 21st century with mobile phone usage and
Global Internet usage growing massively, becoming available to many more people, with more applications and faster speeds.
2001 Gujarat earthquake – An earthquake in Gujarat, India on 26 January 2001, killed approximately 20,000 people.
January 2001 El Salvador earthquake – A 7.9 earthquake in El Salvador shook the whole country on 13 January 2001, causing a major devastating landslide, hundreds dead, thousands injured and many homeless. A month later, on 13 February 2001, the country suffered a second earthquake – 6.7
2003 European heat wave – Approximately up to 70,000 people were killed across Europe in a summer long heat wave.
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami – On 26 December 2004, a massive undersea earthquake resulted in a massive tsunami striking southeast Asia killing approximately 230,000.
2005 Hurricane Katrina – The hurricane killed 1,836 in southeast Louisiana and Mississippi (mostly in
New Orleans) and South Florida. A significant portion of the city, most of which sits below sea level, was submerged. Damages reached US$81.5 billion, making Katrina the costliest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the U.S.
2008 Cyclone Nargis – lead to catastrophic storm surge, leading to a death toll in excess of 100,000 and making millions homeless.
2008 Sichuan earthquake – An earthquake between 7.9 and 8.0-magnitude struck Sichuan, China, on 12 May 2008, killing 68,712, with 17,921 missing.
2009
Black Saturday bushfires – The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that ignited or were burning across the Australian state of Victoria, Australia on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire-weather conditions and resulted in Australia's highest ever loss of life from a bushfire; 173 people died and 414 were injured.
2009 L'Aquila earthquake – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near
L'Aquila (
Italy) on 6 April 2009, one of the worst in Italian history. 308 were pronounced dead and more than 65,000 were made homeless.
2010 Haiti earthquake – At least 230,000 are killed in Haiti after a massive earthquake on 12 January 2010. Three million people were made homeless.
2010 Chile earthquake – A massive earthquake, magnitude 8.8, strikes the central Chilean coast on 27 February 2010.
2010 Yushu earthquake – A large 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Yushu region of China in Qinghai near Tibet, on 14 April 2010, killing over 2,200 people.
2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull – A massive ash cloud is formed by the eruption of the Icelandic volcano
Eyjafjallajökull, on 14 April 2010, grounding flights across northwest Europe. Scientists began recording volcanic activity there in 2009 which increased through March 2010 culminating in the second phase eruption in April.
2010 Pakistan floods – Began in July 2010 after record heavy
monsoon rains. The
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of
Pakistan was worst affected. At least 1,600 people were killed, thousands were rendered homeless, and more than thirteen million people were affected.[175][176][177][178][179] Estimates from rescue service officials suggest the death toll may reach 3,000 victims.[180]
2011 Queensland floods – Began in December 2010 primarily in
Queensland. The flood causes thousands of people to evacuate. At least 200,000 people were affected by the flood. The flood continued throughout January 2011 in Queensland, and the estimated reduction in
Australia's GDP is about A$30 billion.
Cyclone Yasi – A category 5 (Australian Scale) cyclone hits North Queensland with winds as strong as 290 km/h (197 miles/hr) and devastates the residents of North Queensland.
February
2011 Christchurch earthquake – 185 people died in New Zealand after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch on 22 February 2011, making it New Zealand's second-deadliest natural disaster after the
1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake.
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami – On 11 March 2011, a catastrophic undersea earthquake of magnitude 9.0 occurred offshore of eastern
Japan, the greatest in the country's history and created a massive tsunami which killed 15,894; it also triggered the
Fukushima I nuclear accidents. The overall cost for the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accidents reached up to US$235 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster on record.
2011 Super Outbreak – Regarded as the deadliest tornado outbreak ever recorded and dubbed the 2011 Super Outbreak, a catastrophic tornado outbreak on 25–28 April affected the
Southern United States and killed over 330 people, most of whom were in or from
Alabama. Damages are expected to be near or over $10 billion.
2011 Joplin tornado – On 22 May 2011, a devastating EF5 tornado struck
Joplin, Missouri, resulting in 159 casualties, making it the deadliest tornado to hit the United States since 1947.
2013 Bohol earthquake – An earthquake of magnitude 7.2 that killed 22 people and destroyed a total worth of ₱2.25 billion,
Typhoon Haiyan 2013 – kills more than 6,000 people in central
Philippines. Considered to be one of the strongest storms ever, it brought major damage and loss of life to the Philippines, especially the islands of
Leyte and
Samar. A worldwide humanitarian effort began in the aftermath of the typhoon.
April 2015 Nepal earthquake – An earthquake of 7.8 magnitude kills almost 9,000 people, injures another 22,000 and leaves nearly 3 million people homeless in Central Nepal. The earthquake was so strong it was felt in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
2016 Taiwan earthquake – An earthquake of 6.4 magnitude kills 117 people, injures 550, and 4 people were left missing. The earthquake resulted in 3 executives of the Weiguan developer being arrested under charges of professional negligence resulting in death.
At least 20 people are killed in
2021 Henan floods in China after heavy rainfall (at least 20c per hour) exacerbated by the approach of
Typhoon In-fa breaks existing records.
The
2021 European floods kill over 188 people and devastate Belgium, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Croatia, Switzerland, Italy and Luxemburg. Floods in Germany prove to be the deadliest since the
North Sea Flood of 1962.
In September 2022,
Hurricane Ian hit the west coast of Florida as a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane, becoming the deadliest hurricane to hit Florida since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane.
Human-made disasters
On 27 July 2002, a
Sukhoi Su-27 fighter
crashes at an
air show in
Ukraine, killing 77 and injuring more than 100, making it the worst air show disaster in history.
The
Black Saturday bushfires – the deadliest
bushfires in Australian history took place across the
Australianstate of
Victoria on 7 February 2009, during extreme bushfire-weather conditions, resulting in 173 people killed, more than 500 injured, and around 7,500 homeless. The fires came after
Melbourne recorded the
highest-ever temperature (46.4 °C, 115 °F) of any capital city in Australia. The majority of the fires were ignited by either fallen or clashing power lines or deliberately lit.
On 10 April 2010, Polish President
Lech Kaczyński, his wife and 94 other people, including dozens of government officials, are killed in
a plane crash.
On 20 April 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore
drilling rig, operating in the
Gulf of Mexico off the coast of
Louisiana, left eleven crewmen dead and resulted in a fire that sank the rig and caused a massive-scale
oil spill[186] that may become one of the worst environmental disasters in
United States history.[187] On 18 June 2010, oceanographer John Kessler said that the crude gushing from the well contains 40 percent methane, compared to about 5 percent found in typical oil deposits. Methane is a natural gas that could potentially suffocate marine life and create "dead zones" where oxygen is so depleted that nothing lives. "This is the most vigorous methane eruption in modern human history," Kessler said.[188] On 20 June an internal BP document was released by Congress revealing that BP estimated the flow could be as much as 100,000 barrels (4,200,000 US gallons; 16,000 cubic metres) per day under the circumstances that existed since 20 April blowout.[189][190]
2014 –
Ebola virus spreads in west Africa, prompting the then-largest epidemic, with more than 20,000 cases. The first cases outside Africa are reported.
In the early 2010s the
European debt crisis caused major effects on
European politics and contributing to power shifts and the introduction of
austerity policies in different countries.
The
recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced many governments and economic sectors to heavily invest and restructure, especially through widespread introduction of
remote work.
Economic restructuring was pursued in many economies due to global
climate change.
Sports
Association football is the most popular sport worldwide with the
FIFA World Cup being the most viewed football event. Other sports such as rugby, cricket, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, and golf are popular globally. In
cricket, the emergence of the
Twenty20 format and the creation of the
Indian Premier League led to changes in the nature of the sport. American swimmer
Michael Phelps won an Olympic record setting 8 Gold medals at the
2008 Summer Olympics.
In the
National Football League, the
New England Patriots were the dominant franchise of the first two decades of the 21st century, winning six
Super Bowls between their first, in 2001, and their most recent, in 2018 and appearing in an additional three others. Head Coach
Bill Belichick and quarterback
Tom Brady led the team during the stretch, with Brady also leading the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers to an additional Super Bowl following the 2020 season. Other teams with multiple Super Bowl appearances over that time period include the
Philadelphia Eagles,
New York Giants,
Kansas City Chiefs,
Seattle Seahawks, and
Carolina Panthers. Besides Brady, who also won three
Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award (MVP), other highly recognized players include quarterback
Peyton Manning, who won five MVP awards, the most in history, and quarterback
Aaron Rodgers who won three MVPs, who in 2011 set the NFL record for season
passer rating. Successful offensive players at other positions include wide receiver
Randy Moss, who set the record for most receiving touchdowns in a season with 23 in 2007, wide receiver
Michael Thomas, who set the NFL record for most receptions in a season with 149 in 2019, tight end
Rob Gronkowski, who became the first tight end to lead the league in receiving touchdowns in 2011, and running back
Adrian Peterson, who set the all-time NFL record for rushing yards in a game with 296 in 2007, his rookie year. Key defensive players of the century include safety
Ed Reed, who led the league in interceptions three times, linebacker
Ray Lewis, who set the career tackles record when he retired in 2012, and linebacker
J. J. Watt, who is the only player to record more than 20 quarterback sacks in two different seasons.
In American
college football, the sport saw the creation of the
College Football Playoff, the first playoff for
NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level of college football in the U.S. The series was dominated by two teams, the
Clemson Tigers and
Alabama Crimson Tide, at least one of which has played in every Playoff since its inception in 2014 and between them have won all but one of said championships. Prior to 2014, the method of determining the champion was done via the
Bowl Championship Series (BCS), a single championship game that attempted to match the top two teams in the country using a series of polls and computer rankings to choose the top two teams. In the BCS era, the top teams were Alabama, which won three BCS Championships, and
Florida State,
LSU, and
Oklahoma, which won two BCS Championships each.
Nick Saban, who led both LSU and Alabama to one and seven national championships respectively, was the most dominant coach of his era, while quarterbacks dominated the
Heisman Trophy, winning 16 of 20 during the first two decades of the 21st century. Several controversies over the payment of athletes dominated the sport, with Heisman Trophy winner
Reggie Bush being forced to return his award over receiving improper benefits while maintaining amateur status, while officials and media continued to debate the possibility of paying athletes at all levels of
college athletics.
In
Canadian football, the league opened the 21st century facing an uncertain financial future, suffering from the failures of the experiment of trying to field
Canadian football teams in the United States and having to contract a large number of teams at the end of the 20th century. The league fluctuated between eight and nine teams as two different Ottawa-based franchises failed during the first decade of the 21st century. The league found stability during the 2010s, and showed surprising parity between the teams, with all nine teams appearing in at least one
Grey Cup during the 2000s and 2010s, and with only the
Montreal Alouettes winning back-to-back titles during those two decades, in 2009 and 2010. Quarterback
Anthony Calvillo of the Alouettes was the face of the league during his career, winning three
Most Outstanding Player Awards and setting several passing records in the process.
Golf
The
2002 Ryder Cup was won by Europe 15 and a half to the USA's 12 and a half.
The
2004 Ryder Cup was won by Europe 18 and a half to the USA's 9 and a half.
The
2006 Ryder Cup was won by Europe again 18 and a half to the USA's 9 and a half.
The
2008 Ryder Cup was won by the USA 16 and a half to Europe's 11 and a half.
The
2010 Ryder Cup was won by Europe 14 and a half to the USA's 13 and a half.
The
2012 Ryder Cup was won by Europe 14 and a half to the USA's 13 and a half.
The
2014 Ryder Cup was won by Europe 16 and a half to the USA's 11 and a half.
Michael Schumacher broke many records in the first few years of the century, including the record for most races won (91), most World Championships (7), and most pole positions (68) by the time he retired in 2006. In 2010, he announced his comeback to
Formula One after three years out of the sport, retiring again in 2012.
Sebastian Vettel broke numerous records on his way to becoming Formula One's youngest ever world champion, in 2010 at age 23, and then the youngest ever double world champion, in 2011 at age 24.
Sébastien Loeb became the most successful rally driver ever, winning the
World Rally Championship a record 9 consecutive times between 2004 and 2012. He also set new records for the most wins, podium finishes and points scored.
Casey Stoner won his second
MotoGP world title (2007 and 2011), and announced his retirement from the sport at just 27 years of age, citing disagreement with the direction of the sport and a desire to spend more time with his family. His retirement became effective at the end of the 2012 MotoGP season. Stoner has won every MotoGP-branded race at least once.
Roger Federer won 20
Grand Slam titles (6 Australian Opens, 1 French Open, 8 Wimbledons, and 5 US Opens) to surpass
Pete Sampras' record of 14.
Roger Federer,
Rafael Nadal and
Novak Djokovic each completed a Career Grand Slam, winning the singles championships in the
Australian Open,
French Open,
Wimbledon and
US Open; Nadal also won the Olympic Singles gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics to complete a Golden Career Slam.
At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut completed the
longest tennis match ever. Isner won 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7), 7–6(3), 70–68.
In 2019, Rafael Nadal became the first male player to win a single Grand Slam tournament (
French Open) 12 times.
Tennis (Women)
Serena Williams won 23 Grand Slam titles (7 Australian Opens, 3 French Opens, 7 Wimbledons, and 6 US Opens) in the 21st century, to add to her 1999 US Open title. Including a 2017 Australian Open win whilst 8 weeks pregnant
Maria Sharapova became the first female Russian player to reach No.1 on 22 August 2005. She also retired in 2020.
China's
Li Na won the
2011 French Open, becoming the first player, male or female, from that country to win a Grand Slam.
At the beginning of the century, the
compact disc (CD) was the standard form of music media, but alternative forms of music media started to take its place such as
music downloading and
online streaming. A
resurgence in sales of
vinyl records in the 2010s was driven by
record collectors and
audiophiles who prefer the sound of analog vinyl records to digital recordings. In 2020, for the first time since the 1980s, vinyl surpassed CDs as the primary form of physical media for consumers of music, though both were still surpassed by online streaming, which by the 2020s became the predominant way that people consumed music.[193] As of 2020, the most active music streaming services were
YouTube (1 billion monthly music users, 20 million premium subscribers),
Tencent Music (657 million monthly users, 42.7 million premium subscribers), 130 million premium subscribers),
SoundCloud (175 million monthly users),
Gaana (152 million monthly users),
JioSaavn (104 million monthly users),
Spotify (286 million monthly users),
Pandora (60.9 million monthly users), and
Apple Music (60 million subscribers).[194]
Television
As with music, the story of the first two decades of the 21st century was the growth of
streaming television services in competition with older forms of television, such as
Terrestrial television,
cable television, and
satellite television. The first major company to dominate the streaming service market was
Netflix, which began as a
DVD-delivery service in the late 1990s, transitioned into an online media streaming platform initially focused on delivering content produced by studios, then began to produce its own content, beginning with the popular and critically acclaimed series House of Cards in 2013. Netflix's success encouraged the creation of numerous other streaming services, such as
Hulu,
YouTube Premium,
Amazon Prime Video, and
Disney+, which within a year of its launch overtook Netflix as the most downloaded television streaming application.[195]
Issues and concerns
Climate change. Climate scientists have reached a consensus that the earth is undergoing significant
anthropogenic, i.e. human-induced, global warming.[196] Global warming risks considerable
losses in biodiversity and
ecosystem services, unless considerable sociopolitical changes are introduced, particularly in patterns of mass consumption and transportation.[197]
Population. The world's population demographics will shift considerably, with the population of
Europe and
East Asia predicted to decline considerably and the population of
Africa, and to a lesser extent
South Asia, to grow considerably, unless there are policy changes. The
United Nations estimates
world population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050.[199] Most growth will take place in the world's poorer countries, which may slow down the reduction of poverty and combined with the effects of
global warming, may lead to large migrations.
Overconsumption and overpopulation. Such growth raises questions of ecological
sustainability and creates many
economic and
political disruptions. In response, many countries have adopted policies which either force or encourage their citizens to have fewer children, and others have limited
immigration. Debate exists over what the ultimate carrying capacity of the planet may be; whether or not population growth containment policies are necessary; to what degree growth can safely occur thanks to increased economic and
ecological efficiency; and how distribution mechanisms should accommodate demographic shifts. Many developed countries (most notably Japan) will experience
population decline, and the population debate is strongly tied with discussions about the
distribution of wealth.
Poverty. Poverty remains the root cause of many of the world's other ills, including
famine,
disease, and insufficient
education. Poverty contains many self-reinforcing elements (e.g. it can make education unaffordable, which results in continuing poverty) that aid groups hope to rectify. Progress has been made in reducing poverty, especially in China and India, but increasingly in Africa as well.
Microcredit lending has started to prove useful as an anti-poverty tool.[citation needed]
War on drugs. The legal, social, and military battle by governments against drug cartels show little results in ending drug trading and consumption, and an increase in the lives taken. After 2006 in the
Mexican Drug War, more than 100,000 human lives have been lost. Some jurisdictions have enacted a degree of legalization or decriminalization of some kinds of drugs, notably several U.S. states legalizing
marijuana for recreational or medical use.
Intellectual property. The increasing popularity of digital formats for entertainment media such as movies and music, and the ease of copying and distributing it via the
Internet and
peer-to-peer networks, has raised concerns in the media industry about
copyright infringement. Much debate is proceeding about the proper bounds between protection of
copyright,
trademark and
patent rights versus
fair use and the
public domain, where some argue that such laws have shifted greatly towards intellectual property owners and away from the interests of the general public, while others say that such legal change is needed to deal with a perceived threat of new technologies against the rights of authors and artists (or, as others put it, against the outmoded business models of the entertainment industry).
Domain name "cybersquatting" and access to patented drugs and generics to combat epidemics in third-world countries are other IP concerns.
Civil and political rights, including
women's rights,
LGBT rights,
racial equality and the rights of
disabled and individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities are still a work in progress.
Women are unable to realize or outright denied their rights in many countries, including
India,
China[201] and
Saudi Arabia, and
sexual violence against women is still an enormous problem.
Sex-selective abortion has reduced the number of women born worldwide since 1990, mostly because of
son preference in
China,
India,
Pakistan,
Vietnam,
South Korea and other countries. In many countries attitudes towards
homosexuality have become more tolerant.
Same-sex marriage was legalized in several jurisdictions during the first two decades of the century, but outlawed by constitutional amendment in other places. Meanwhile, some countries such as
Uganda and
Russia moved to toughen their laws against any sort of
homosexual behavior or expression. Political battles over pro- or anti-gay legislation provoked much activism in the streets and on the Internet.
Hate groups remain a serious problem, and ethnic minorities have a lower status in many countries, including the United States. Neurological conditions such as
ADHD are becoming more understood and recognized.
^"Login".
Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
^Bansal, Samarth (30 November 2016).
"Sex ratio at birth on the decline". The Hindu.
Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2019 – via www.thehindu.com.
^
abAustin, Peter K; Sallabank, Julia (2011). "Introduction". In Austin, Peter K; Sallabank, Julia (eds.). Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN978-0-521-88215-6.
^Carroll, Matt; Pfeiffer, Sacha; Rezendes, Michael; Robinson, Walter V. (6 January 2002).
"Church allowed abuse by priest for years". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
^Agle, D.C.; Fox, Karen; Johnson, Alana; Schmid, Deb (3 June 2021).
"NASA's Juno to Get a Close Look at Jupiter's Moon Ganymede". NASA.
Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021. On Monday, June 7 [...] NASA's Juno spacecraft will come within 645 miles (1,038 kilometers) of the surface of Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede. The flyby will be the closest a spacecraft has come to the solar system's largest natural satellite since NASA's Galileo spacecraft made its penultimate close approach back on May 20, 2000.
^Partington, Richard (13 August 2018).
"Is free trade always the answer?". The Guardian.
Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
Allitt, Patrick N. America after the Cold War: The First 30 Years (2020).
Andersson, Jenny. The future of the world: Futurology, futurists, and the struggle for the post cold war imagination (Oxford UP, 2018).
Ahram, Ariel I. War and Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa (John Wiley & Sons, 2020).
Asare, Prince, and Richard Barfi. "The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on the Global Economy: Emphasis on Poverty Alleviation and Economic Growth." Economics 8.1 (2021): 32–43
online.
Aziz, Nusrate, and M. Niaz Asadullah. "Military spending, armed conflict and economic growth in developing countries in the post–Cold War era." Journal of Economic Studies 44.1 (2017): 47–68.
Brands, Hal. Making the unipolar moment: U.S. foreign policy and the rise of the post-Cold War order (2016).
Brügger, Niels, ed, Web25: Histories from the first 25 years of the world wide web (Peter Lang, 2017).
Cameron, Fraser. US foreign policy after the cold war: global hegemon or reluctant sheriff? (Psychology Press, 2005).
Cassani, Andrea, and Luca Tomini. Autocratization in post-cold war political regimes (Springer, 2018).
Clapton, William ed. Risk and Hierarchy in International Society: Liberal Interventionism in the Post-Cold War Era (Palgrave Macmillan UK. 2014)
Dai, Jinhua, and Lisa Rofel, eds. After the Post–Cold War: The Future of Chinese History (Duke UP, 2018).
Duong, Thanh. Hegemonic globalisation: U.S. centrality and global strategy in the emerging world order (Routledge, 2017).
Gertler, Mark, and Simon Gilchrist. "What happened: Financial factors in the great recession." Journal of Economic Perspectives 32.3 (2018): 3–30.
online
Harrison, Ewam. The Post-Cold War International System: Strategies, Institutions and Reflexivity (2004).
Henriksen, Thomas H. Cycles in US Foreign Policy Since the Cold War (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)
excerpt.
Howe, Joshua P. Behind the curve: science and the politics of global warming (U of Washington Press, 2014).
Jackson, Robert J. and Philip Towle. Temptations of Power: The United States in Global Politics after 9/11 (2007)
Lamy, Steven L., et al. Introduction to global politics (4th ed. Oxford UP, 2017)
Mandelbaum, MichaelThe Rise and Fall of Peace on Earth (Oxford UP, 2019) why so much peace 1989–2015.
excerpt
Maull, Hanns W., ed. The rise and decline of the post-Cold War international order (Oxford UP, 2018).
Pekkanen, Saadia M., John Ravenhill, and Rosemary Foot, eds. Oxford handbook of the international relations of Asia (Oxford UP, 2014), comprehensive coverage.
Ravenhill, John, ed. Global political economy (5th ed. Oxford UP, 2017)
excerpt
Reid-Henry, Simon. Empire of Democracy: The Remaking of the West Since the Cold War (2019)
excerpt
Rubin, Robert, and Jacob Weisberg. In an uncertain world: tough choices from Wall Street to Washington (2015).
Rudolph, Peter. "The Sino-American World Conflict" (German Institute for International and Security Affairs. SWP Research Paper #3, February 2020). doi: 10.18449/2020RP03
online
Schenk, Catherine R. International economic relations since 1945 (2nd ed. 2021).
Smith, Rhona K.M. et al. International Human Rights (4th ed. 2018)
Smith, Rhona KM. Texts and materials on international human rights (4th ed. Routledge, 2020).
Strong, Jason. The 2010s: Looking Back At A Dramatic Decade (2019)
online
Taylor-Gooby, Peter, Benjamin Leruth, and Heejung Chung, eds. After austerity: Welfare state transformation in Europe after the great recession (Oxford UP, 2017).