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2012 Economic
chaos grips the world
Marijuana is fully legalised in Copenhagen
The
Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II In June, there is an extra public holiday in the UK. An event is staged in London which includes a concert produced by singer-songwriter Gary Barlow, formerly of Take That. A maritime parade of boats and events takes place along the River Thames, in which up to 1,000 boats take part (the largest flotilla to be seen on the river in 350 years) and a million people watch from the riverside.* Street parties take place around the country. Queen Victoria, in 1897, is thus far the only other monarch in the histories of Britain, Canada and a few other Commonwealth realms to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee.
The
United States and South Korea dissolve the Combined Forces Command From this point onwards, during wartime, the forces under South Korea and American forces will operate as two separate entities. This event comes at a time of great stress between North and South Korea. North Korea has continued to conduct missile tests, to the continued disapproval of South Korea. Conflicts along the border and coasts have resulted in a number of deaths.*
Euro
2012 is held in Poland and Ukraine
London
hosts the Olympic Games Aside from a small number of arrests, it passes without incident. Despite this, the media tries to hype the threat of a terrorist attack as much as possible. London is transformed this decade by a number of massive construction projects. In addition to the Olympic Games venues themselves, there is neighbouring Stratford City - an entire new business district, with over 13.5 million ft² of floor space. Then there is Crossrail - a £15 billion rail connection, linking Heathrow Airport with the central and eastern parts of the city. Vast areas of land are being redeveloped all over the city - including Greenwich Peninsula, Elephant & Castle, Croydon, Paddington, Battersea and elsewhere. These mixed-use developments contain hundreds of thousands of new homes, shops and offices to provide for London's booming population. Several new landmarks dominate the skyline, including the 87-storey Shard of Glass. This becomes the tallest tower in the European Union, and the first to break the 1000 ft barrier.
Completion
of the International Space Station
Mars
Science Laboratory explores the Red Planet The mission has four goals:
Windows
8 is released*
Quad-core smartphones and tablets
Nintendo
launches the Wii U
Brain-computer interfaces allowing the paralysed to walk again By this date, a prototype full-body exoskeleton has been devised which allows the paralysed to walk again - using their thoughts alone to control it.* This is achieved using a neuroprosthetic device with a highly advanced brain-computer interface (BCI) at its core, driven by neurochips implanted in the patient's skull. These monitor electrical brain activity and adjust the movement of the limbs accordingly. The project has been developed by an international team of neurophysiologists, computer scientists, engineers, roboticists, neurologists and neurosurgeons at laboratories around the world. Fresh hope is now being offered to millions of people affected by paralysis.*
The world's first 1-Gigawatt offshore wind farm Construction of the largest ever offshore wind farm is underway off the southeastern coast of England. Known as the "London Array", it will supply enough power for 750,000 homes - a quarter of all those in London.* With a total of 341 turbines, it will reduce carbon emissions by nearly 2 million tonnes every year: a significant milestone in the government's plan to cut emissions by 80% by 2050. This project marks the beginning of a major expansion of offshore wind power in Britain. Numerous other large-scale wind farms will be constructed in the coming decades - greatly reducing the country's dependence on foreign energy and creating thousands of new jobs in the green industry.
Mass
hysteria grips the world as the Mayan calendar reaches the end of its
current cycle This date has generated enormous publicity, with many predicting the end of the world, or a transformative event of some kind. This is despite no record of the Mayans themselves believing that any such event would occur. The media plays a huge role here, whipping up a frenzy of speculation. Though mostly tongue-in-cheek, it is enough to influence many gullible and/or vulnerable people. Various threats are debated: from a polar reversal of the Earth, to a global computer crash, runaway climate disaster or other cataclysm. On some talk shows, even the second coming of Christ is predicted. There are numerous hoaxes on the Internet and elsewhere, creating further confusion and paranoia during this time. Some people engage in panic buying of food, or build shutters and barricades around their homes. Others spend their entire life savings to enjoy one "last day" before the end of the world. A small minority of people become involved in more serious activity. For these troubled individuals, it becomes almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. In their misguided belief that the world will actually end, they resort to extreme or illegal behaviour, putting themselves and others at risk. Consequently, there is a brief spike in the number of murders, rapes, accidents and suicides worldwide. Of course, for the vast majority of rational people, the date passes without incident - and life continues as normal on 22nd December.*
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References 1 A win-win on drugs? Fighting gangs by legalizing pot, Global Post: 2
Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant: 3
U.S., S.Korea set 2012 for military command changes,
Reuters: 4
South Korea's Case for How the Cheonan Sank, Time: 5
UEFA Euro 2012, Wikipedia: 6
Windows 8 Plans Leaked: Numerous Details Revealed, Microsoft
Kitchen: 7 Samsung Galaxy S3 to be quad-core mind blower?, techradar: 8 iPhone 5 rumours: what you need to know, techradar: 9
Wii 2, Wikipedia: 10
"Their goal is to enable a paralyzed person to walk again by the
end of 2012." 11
The Walk Again Project: 12
World's largest offshore wind farm to be built off Kent coast,
DailyMail.co.uk: 13
2012: Beginning of the End or Why the World Won't End?,
NASA: |
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